Fight or Flight
by KateMarie999
Summary: Years after the movie, Hiccup and Astrid were blessed with a headstrong daughter named Kara. She's decided that dragon riding simply isn't for her. When she starts dating a local boy from the village that Hiccup doesn't like, things get even more complicated. COMPLETE! Please R
1. Prologue: Flying Lessons

_Hello there! I've lurked around this site for years but have never actually written a story until now. Please go easy on me. I really don't know what I'm doing. This story switches the POV with every chapter.  
_

**Prologue: Flying Lessons (Hiccup)  
**

"No."

"Come on, Kara. Your mother will kill me if I don't get you airborne today."

"No."

"It's a little scary at first but I'll be right behind you, I promise."

"No!"

"Kara… please? Just once around Berk?"

"No!"

"Twenty feet up and then back down. You'll be in the air for 2 seconds."

"No!"

This was it. I was completely out of bargains, excuses, and ideas to get my 9-year-old onto my dragon. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toothless sigh and lie down, becoming impatient with the daily struggle. Then, I got an idea. It was a longshot perhaps but it was my last option. I placed a hand on Kara's shoulder.

"Kara… do you trust me?"

Kara looked down at her shoes and didn't answer.

"Look at me." I placed a few fingers on her chin and gently pushed it up so she was looking at me. Her bright green eyes, identical to mine, soon met my gaze. "I would _never_ let anything bad happen to you. You know that." I smiled. Please let this work.

"I'm scared." Kara said so quietly I could barely hear her.

"Of course you are." I shrugged. "We're all scared sometimes. But you can either run away or face your fears. And I know you're brave and you're strong."

Kara smiled sheepishly. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are. You're a Haddock. It's in your blood."

Kara sighed deeply. "Okay. But just once. You'll be behind me?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed, hoping I didn't seem too excited. I didn't want to scare her away from flying forever. "Now come on."

I gently lifted a trembling Kara onto Toothless, who was looking very uneasy. Before mounting behind her, I walked over and stoked Toothless' head. "It's okay, bud. As soon as Kara learns to fly, I'll get her her own dragon and then it'll be just you and me again."

I had to give Toothless some credit. For months, he sat still as I taught my young daughter how to work with a dragon. She had, by this point, learned to mount him and control his tail. From infancy, she had been taught everything I wish I had known about dragons. She had even been enthusiastic at first… until I started to teach her to fly. Toothless had grown weary of the long hours with her. I hoped it would be him and me again very soon.

"Don't tell him to fly!" Kara clutched to Toothless, looking thoroughly petrified. That wouldn't last though. As soon as we were airborne, all her fear would melt away, I just knew it.

"I'm not telling him to fly. I told you I'd be right behind you." I chuckled as I mounted Toothless behind her. "All right, bud. Let's go."

We were off. Riding Toothless with Kara had always been my dream from the moment she was born. Now it was a reality… all was not well. Kara squealed at the takeoff and then clutched to Toothless in terror. She shut her eyes tight. This was not the flight I had imagined. In my head, Kara would have at least been watching where she was going.

This followed the single worst flight of my life. Toothless, who was not enjoying Kara's fingernails in his neck, gave me angry looks the entire time. I suspected Kara had burst into tears halfway through the ride. Feeling horribly guilty, I finally told Toothless to land. I couldn't torture my daughter any more.

When we finally touched down, Kara slid off Toothless (in very bad form but I didn't have the heart to correct her). She looked at me, terrified and teary-eyed.

"I'm _never_ doing that again!" she shrieked, taking off toward home. "Never!" she shouted back.

And there I was. Sitting there on Toothless like an idiot. What did I do wrong? We prepared for this moment for weeks! And how could she not like flying when she had grown up around it, when her parents loved flying as much as we did?

Trying to act cheerful, I stroked Toothless' head again. "I guess it's just you and me, bud." I said. Toothless looked at me and I could tell he saw right through my fake cheerfulness. Somehow, he could always tell how I was feeling. And I guess soul-crushing disappointment is hard to hide.


	2. Chapter 1: How to Avoid Riding

_Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm surprised I got this many just from the prologue. This chapter mostly sets up the story and environment and I'm afraid not too much happens. There definitely will be more going on but as you probably know, setting the scene can be a little uneventful. That's probably why I wrote this so quickly, I wanted to get to the action. Please continue to review this story because the reviews will probably keep me from scrapping this story. I'm terrible at finishing stuff. That being said, here's the official "start" to the story._

**Chapter One: How to Avoid Riding (Kara)  
**

_August 25th_

I found a huge book full of blank paper so I think I'm going to write down all my thoughts and feelings into it. Privately. So if you're not me, you shouldn't be reading this! Go on, put it down! I'm surprised no other Vikings have thought of doing this. I wonder if it'll relieve any stress. I'm not sure but I'll give it a shot.

This is Berk. You might think living here would toughen you up, give you the shoot-first-ask-questions-later mindset. And you'd be right. Well, sort of. You'd be right if you thought that 25 or more years ago. Then we made peace with the dragons and now it's almost friendly. Almost. Hey, we're still Vikings after all.

In our extensive study of dragons, we finally concluded that they must live about as long as we do. About 60 to 70 years. Dragons take about 10 years to grow up and mature enough for a rider so it became custom to give a child a dragon on their 10th birthday. Of course, that child must already know all there is to know about riding. And after a generation of this custom, I was the only one not to receive a dragon the day I turned 10.

My name is Kara Haddock. I don't have my own dragon. My dad was the first to befriend dragons and he's the reason we ride them today. My mom was part of the first class of dragon trainers. And my grandfather was the first chief to implement dragons into the daily Viking routine. So what I am doing without a dragon? Simple. _I don't want a dragon._

Don't get me wrong, I _love_ dragons. I grew up with Toothless and Stormfly protecting me every day. In fact, I'm told "Stormfly" was my first word and Toothless helped me take my first steps. Apparently they were even there the day I was born.

All my friends have their own dragons. My best friend Camicazi has Hurricane, one of those gigantic dragons that spins around in circles (I never can keep my dragon breeds straight). Well, he's that kind of dragon but he's a hiccup so he's only a little bigger than Hookfang, her dad's Monstrous Nightmare (I remember that one because it's the only dragon that never liked me very much). She's the only one who was ever able to fully tame and ride that kind of dragon. Then there's Tollum, who managed to train the same kind of dragon my mom has, a Deadly… something or other. His name is Spike, which I think is the least creative name in the world but I'd never tell Tollum that. Creativity isn't his strong suit. Finally there's… well there's Madguts. Madguts is tall, strong, and just about the most gorgeous Viking who ever lived… oh and he has a dragon too. Forget the name but he's the first Viking to ever own that particular kind. His dragon spits acid and burns things and is able to blend into its surroundings but I don't care. He looks amazing while riding it. On and off the dragon. If he offered me a ride, I might actually take him up on that…

But Madguts barely knows I exist. And why would he? I take after my dad, I'm small and awkward. Covered in freckles with bushy, wild red hair that no one really knows what to do with. I'm an embarrassment to the Vikings, I can't fish, I can't really make or even carry weapons, and the idea of flying dragons makes me nauseous. You know what I do well? Archery and painting. That's it. I can't fight with a sword. And I don't have the strength to shoot any arrows large enough to do any damage. So I guess I'm completely useless.

Heights scare me to death. Living on Berk makes me feel paranoid that I'm going to fall off a cliff and drown. I feel like I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not that I'd be any good at killing dragons either. Maybe I shouldn't even be a Viking.

No, that's depressing talk. I'm not always this melancholy but… well I might as well tell you what happened today because I can't tell anyone and I'll go insane if I have to keep it inside. It'll just fester and make me even more depressed.

You remember how I said that I don't want to get a dragon? Well my parents have been on my case forever about getting me one. I need to get over my fears, they say. I'll love flying if I just give it a chance (clearly my dad forgot about the last time I flew on a dragon…let's just say vomiting on a moving dragon is definitely not a pleasant experience). They always bring out the "I'm a Haddock, flying is in my blood" line every time I start to protest. But this time was different. This time my over 7 foot tall grandfather was there. It's not easy to argue with him.

"Kara, you're going to be 16 years old soon." My mom said, crossing her arms and treating me to the glare she reserves just for me or my dad when she's tired of being ignored. "If you don't get a dragon now, you're probably never going to get one."

"I don't want a dragon." I replied, looking as nonchalant as I could but feeling anger creep up on me.

"Everyone has a dragon, Kara. Even Madguts. And he's too not exactly the brightest Viking who ever lived." My dad said, obviously trying not to be too insulting.

I began to get indignant. "Are you saying I'm stupid?"

"Actually I think he was trying to call Madguts stupid." My mom raised an eyebrow at dad, who shrugged sheepishly.

"Madguts isn't stupid." I said, more to my shoes than to my parents.

My parents clearly decided not to press the issue.

"I don't know why you're going so easy on her." Piped up my grandfather. "When I was her age, if my father told me to do something, I did it. No questions asked."

Dad rolled his eyes "Yes, we've heard all about how obedient you were, dad, but in case you haven't noticed, Kara isn't you."

"I'm standing right here." I said but my words were completely ignored.

"It doesn't matter, Hiccup. Sooner or later, she's going to have to do what she's told. And I'm telling her to learn dragon riding right now before she's too far behind her peers." Grandfather said, crossing his arms and staring at my dad.

"She's my daughter, I'll tell her what she has to learn." Dad said, sounding irritated.

"Hiccup, she's our daughter and I kind of agree with your dad." Mom said, sighing. "He's right, she needs to suck it up and learn now before she's too far behind or before you're too old to teach her."

It was as if I wasn't there. So I decided to take this opportunity to leave. I walked off and found this stack of paper in the barn next to my parents' house. So I've been sitting here writing for the last half hour. I can still hear them arguing. My dad is saying something about easing me into the academy. Now mom is telling him he's been too easy on me. Now my dad is telling them… oh Thor no, he's telling them the story of how I threw up while riding Toothless and how long it took to bathe him. As though I'm not embarrassed enough by that. Now I can't hear what they're saying, they must be talking quietly.

I know how this is going to end. Eventually they'll argue it out until my mom gives into to my dad's babying me. My grandfather probably won't put up too much of a fight, my dad's great at proving his point.

No. Oh no, no, no, no. NO! I just heard my dad say something that's going to ruin everything.

"Fine!" he shouted. I heard a bang, he must have punched something. "Fine, if that's what it takes then… maybe you're right." I think he sighed after that but I could barely hear it. "When she turns 16, we'll get her a dragon. She can't exactly avoid it forever."

Great. Just great. The day I die from bashing into the rocks below after falling off a dragon just got a lot closer.


	3. Chapter 2: A Dragon for Kara

_Hello again. Thanks for the reviews. Please keep them coming. I just thouglso, I apologize for the sappy Hiccstrid-ness of this chapterht I should open by mentioning that Miss Pookamonga's story __Breaking Point__ (which is pretty much the last 3 chapters of her story __Getting Used to It__) is referenced in this. She said I could put this story in her canon as long as I credit her. She's an amazing writer and if you haven't read Breaking Point yet, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's pretty freaking amazing. No I'm not being biased because we're actually real life friends, she really is that good. Anyway, I had to actually rewrite sections of this to fit it in the canon and give Hiccup a similar voice to her version. I apologize for the sappy Hiccstrid-ness of this. My next few chapters won't be this bad but I simply couldn't resist. I figured it was a good idea to appease the major Hiccstrid shippers as long as I was going that route. I'm actually kind of embarrassed to share this sappy-ness with you all. Anyway, this is going to seem like a digression from the story but I think this bit of back story will actually help you guys understand why Hiccup is so attached to Kara. And that's really important._

**Chapter Two: A Dragon for Kara (Hiccup)**

Did I ever tell you about the day Kara was born? No? Gods, how could I never have told you that? It was the most terrifying day of my life. In moments, I found out I was going to become a father… and then thought I might lose everyone I loved.

We had been trying to have a child for the past two years but were met with nothing but disappointment. The year before Kara was born (almost to the day) we found out we had lost a baby. I will never forget that day. It was one of the only times I ever saw Astrid cry. I promised myself that I would never let her go through that again. Next time, I'd take better care of her. But a year passed and we simply couldn't have a child. We were beginning to think it would be impossible. We thought we would have to choose one of the other children born that year to take over as chief. This had never happened before and I couldn't bear the thought of never becoming a father, never training a successor… never teaching a child the fine art of dragon training.

All that changed in September nearly 16 years ago. Ruffnut and Snotlout had just gone through a very messy breakup and, naturally, Tuffnut and Snotlout were beating each other senselessly in the Dragon Academy as a result. Heather, Astrid and I were attempting to restore calm. This was no easy task and Ruffnut certainly wasn't interested in intervening (she was being comforted by Fishlegs, who knew she actually had feelings?). I should probably mention that Heather moved onto Berk merely two weeks before this all happened, which is why she was there. And I have to admit, it was rather funny because as she was just about used to us all when this particular fight broke out. The look of helpless confusion on her face was priceless.

I don't know who threw the punch that changed my life. I should clarify that it was accidental. No one had meant to hit Astrid but it had happened. She was thrown backward. Stormfly cushioned her fall. I expected her to get up and keep fighting but she didn't. I figured she was busy apologizing to Stormfly for hitting her so hard but I really wasn't paying attention to her. At this point, Tuffnut had given Snotlout what I suspected was a broken nose. I was so thankful that their dragons were not present for that fight because it would have been even more difficult to keep them from becoming involved. Heather had taken Hookfang moments before to get help (Hookfang had taken a liking to her and at the time, she didn't have her own dragon) and Barf and Belch were with Tuffnut's wife Melva. At this time, their son Tollum was barely a year old and had gotten sick so Melva was flying them to Trader Johann for some medicine. Now I think about it, I'm pretty sure Tuffnut had left Tollum completely alone at this point to fight with Snotlout. I suppose he's not exactly the best father in the world. But Tollum turned out okay… sort of.

Anyway, the fight was interrupted by a huge roar from both Toothless and Stormfly. Snotlout, Tuffnut, and I looked over to where they were and the fight was immediately forgotten. Astrid was leaning against Stormfly breathing heavily. Apparently she had been trying to call for me but Tuffnut and Snotlout had been too loud for me to hear her.

I will probably never forget that sight. There was blood everywhere. Astrid was pale and looked like she was in agony.

"What in Odin's name did you do to her?" I shouted to Snotlout and Tuffnut, who looked horrified. I fell to my knees in front of her, trembling. "Astrid, I'm here. What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Get me a doctor… get me a doctor now!" Astrid groaned.

I turned back to Snotlout and Tuffnut. "You heard her, take Stormfly and get a doctor! Now!"

But Stormfly wouldn't leave. And they couldn't fly Toothless without knowing how to operate his tail (why hadn't I taught anyone other than Astrid how to work that thing?). And I sure wasn't leaving my wife alone with Tuffnut and Snotlout. Terror seized me. Was Astrid going to be okay? Was she going to die? No…she couldn't die. She couldn't.

Fortunately, Heather returned with my dad, who was riding Thornado, and Gobber, who was riding with Heather (to this day, I'm not sure why he didn't come on his dragon because he seemed rather secretive when anyone asked).

"Over here!" I shouted to them. "There's something wrong with Astrid!"

The moment they landed, Gobber rushed over to Astrid. He held what looked like an ear trumpet up to her heart. "Bit of a weak heartbeat but… hang on…" he moved the ear trumpet down to her stomach. "Well… tha's a wee bit unexpected."

"What is… what's going on?" I was beginning to sound a bit hysterical but I didn't care.

"Well… there's another heartbeat. I'm sure of it." Gobber looked up at me.

"What?" Astrid looked horrified. "That's impossible!"

Maybe I should backtrack. It makes a lot more sense to tell you that Astrid and I had not for one second suspected she was pregnant. She never had any of the typical symptoms and never gained more than 10 pounds. We're still not entirely sure how it could have gone on that whole time without us even suspecting it.

"A… a baby?" I choked out.

"Looks like it." My dad said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

Gobber jumped up. "Okay," he said, sounding as though he were talking about the weather instead of a life threatening situation. "Does anyone here know how to deliver a baby?"

Snotlout fainted. Tuffnut looked like he was about to. Heather timidly raised a hand.

"I, umm… I did it once. About a year ago. Of course, we knew it was going to happen…" she said, looking thoroughly unsure of herself.

"We… we can't take her to a doctor?" I sputtered, trying desperately to hold back tears.

"Too late for tha'. Tha' baby wants to come now!" Gobber looked very excited.

I'll spare you the bloody details. All I will say is that it was terrifying, worse than anything I had experienced. Worse than the night I had beaten up those boys for hurting her. True, I thought I was going to lose her that night but this… this was my doing. I did this. If Astrid died now, it would be my fault. And the baby… what if we lost the baby too? _My_ Astrid… _my _ baby…

I walked over, as though in a trance, and leaned up against Stormfly next to her. I took her hand in mine and stroked her face with my other hand. She was covered in sweat and tears were spilling out of her eyes.

"You're going to be okay, Astrid." I put my forehead up to hers. "Everything's going to be fine." I kissed her gently on the forehead.

"It hurts." She moaned. "What if the baby doesn't make it?"

"The baby's going to be fine." I said, stroking her hair.

Astrid looked at me with those piercing blue eyes. Terror seized me again. What if I never got to see those beautiful eyes again? I didn't want to think about it but I couldn't stop myself. There was so much blood…

"You're lying, Hiccup. I can always tell when you're lying." Astrid said through deep breaths. She reached up and wiped my tears out of my eyes. "Listen to me. If I don't make it…"

"_Don't_ _say that!"_

"Shut up, Hiccup." Astrid snapped, or she probably would have if she were strong enough. "If I don't make it, you take good care of our baby."

"Of course I will." I nodded. "Of course. But you're going to take good care of this baby too."

Astrid smiled at me for a second. But it only lasted a second because a moment later, she was screaming.

The birth seemed to take forever. I'm sure it look a lot less time than usual but I had lost track of time. Astrid squeezed my hand so hard I lost all feeling. But I didn't care. It meant she still had some of her strength left.

"It's here!" Heather exclaimed. Her hands were covered in blood but she held up a very tiny baby. "It's… _it's a girl_!"

"Isn't she supposed to cry?" Astrid asked, gasping for breath but looking relieved.

"She's breathing… yes, I think she's whimpering." Heather smiled. "I think she'll be okay."

I couldn't decide if I was happy or relieved or scared… I must have felt all of them.

"It's a girl!" I called over to my dad and Gobber, who were looking very uncomfortable standing at the far end of the arena.

"It's a _what_?" I heard my dad shout but I didn't care.

I barely remember the next few hours. I wasn't allowed to see Astrid or my baby because they were being examined by our best midwife. Stormfly, Toothless, and I sat quietly outside the house of the midwife, who was making sure they were okay. My dad sat next to me after I had been waiting for about an hour. It seemed hard to believe that hours before, I had no idea I was a father. Now I couldn't imagine not being one.

"So… congratulations." My dad said, smiling.

"Yeah." I said, not really paying attention to him.

"A girl." He said, sighing. "That's okay. Plenty of time to try and have a boy. Someone has to take over as chief."

"No." I said quietly. "I'm not putting Astrid through that again."

"But whoever heard of a woman as a chief? Unheard of!" my dad exclaimed.

"I guess she'll just have to be the first." I glared at him. "It's not as though I'm typical chief material either."

My dad sighed and then nodded. "I suppose you're right."

Stormfly nudged me. I turned over to her. "It's all right, girl. Astrid's going to make a full recovery." I told her.

"You're right." Said a foreign voice. I looked over and there was Berk's best midwife, standing at the doorway with our baby in her arms. "She'll be fine. Both of them." She gestured into the house. "Your wife wants to see you."

"Oh thank Thor." I muttered as I went into the house. Astrid was propped up in bed.

"Hiccup." She grinned as I walked over to her. The moment I sat down next to her, she punched me in the arm.

"Ow, what… what was that for?" I asked her, rubbing my arm. For someone in her condition, she certainly hadn't lost her strength.

"Everything." She winked at me. She then pulled me forward by my shirt and kissed me. "And that's for our baby."

The midwife walked over to me. "Do you want to hold her?" she asked, offering me the baby.

I was speechless. I'm not even sure if I said anything as a response. The midwife laughed and placed her in my arms. _My daughter_. It seemed so funny to think that. She had been cleaned up a bit. There was a small tuft of red hair on her head. Her face was splotchy and purplish-red but I didn't care. I didn't think I could possibly love another person as much as I loved Astrid. But this baby… she was perfect. She opened her eyes and looked up at me and we stared at each other for what felt like hours (but was probably about 5 minutes).

"So… we talked about names a while ago but I don't remember what we came up with anymore." Astrid said, smiling.

"I do." I said, still staring at my little girl. "We said we'd name a girl Kara."

"Kara… that's right. I like that." Astrid stroked our baby's cheek.

I got up and then climbed into bed with Astrid. I handed Kara to her and put my arms around them both. _My_ Astrid. _My_ Kara. _My_ girls.

It was in that moment that I promised myself that, no matter what happened, I would protect my daughter. I would make sure she was happy and safe. I owed it to both her and her mother after everything that happened.

I tell you all this because I think it'll help you understand why I was always going so easy on her. Why, the day I began to explore Dragon Island to find a dragon for her, I felt conflicted. I felt as though I were betraying her. She begged and pleaded with me not to get her a dragon. As I flew there on Toothless, I began to talk to him.

"She'll get used to it." I told him. "She's tough. Why… I bet she'll love flying if she has her own dragon. This is good for her!"

Toothless narrowed his eyes at me.

"Don't give me that look. What choice do I have?" I crossed my arms. "I can't make everyone happy."

Toothless rolled his eyes and snorted in annoyance.

"Come on, Toothless. You've got to support me on this." I rubbed his neck. "If you don't support me, I'm never going to be able to live with myself."

Toothless didn't respond to this but that might have been because we arrived at Dragon Island at that moment. So many dragons to choose from… but which one?

I spotted a young Deadly Nadder about Kara's age wandering around looking… was that a dragon's version of being bored? I wasn't sure. Then there were Terrible Terrors scuttling around the place. A Gronckle flew over us. I patted Toothless on the head.

"See if you can find a dragon Kara would like." I told him. He looked at me in irritation, sighed, and walked away. "Wow, tell me how you really feel, why don't you!" I sarcastically called back to him. He didn't respond.

We searched the island for several hours. I needed just the right dragon for my daughter, one she would like. I was thinking of getting her a Gronckle, they seemed to be the best for new riders. But then I found the perfect dragon. Oh, Astrid would kill me for this…

* * *

I sheepishly climbed off Toothless at dusk. Tomorrow was Kara's birthday so I thought I'd present her dragon to her that night instead of waiting. I figured it would be too hard to hide a dragon like this.

Astrid came bounding out of the house first. "Did you get her dragon?" she asked.

"Yes, Astrid. I definitely got her a dragon." I said with so much fake confidence, Astrid started to look suspicious.

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at me. "So where is this dragon?"

"Well… before you take a look at him, I should remind you that _you _told me to find a dragon that Kara would like." I stammered.

"Where's the dragon, Hiccup?" Astrid asked, her voice becoming very threatening.

I opened my arms to reveal Kara's new dragon.

"A Common Garden Dragon? You got our daughter a Common Garden Dragon?" Astrid's wrath was beginning to build. "So you thought you could cure our daughter of her fear of riding dragons by getting her a dragon the size of a sheep who _can't fly_?"

"Well… yeah." I said, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. "It made a whole lot more sense in my head but now you say it all out loud, I can see my logic was flawed."

"Flawed doesn't even _begin _to describe it! You go put that dragon back on Dragon Island and get her one that can fly or so help me gods, I will…"

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?"

Astrid and I looked around to see Kara, in her nightdress, walking out of the house.

If looks could kill, I would be dead right now with the look Astrid gave me. "Your _father_ got you a dragon." She snapped, storming back into the house.

"What? No! I told you, I don't want a dragon! Why do you keep insisting on…"

"Kara! Calm down!" I interrupted. "I got you a Common Garden Dragon. They don't fly. See?" I held up the dragon.

"Oh…" Kara looked rather awkward for a second. "I guess that's okay."

"Here," I put the dragon down. "Get down on his level and hold out your hand."

Kara obeyed, looking rather uncomfortable. The dragon looked unsure at first, then put his forehead up to her hand. Kara looked very surprised.

"He likes me." She whispered, more to herself, I suspect, than me.

Then the dragon did something very unexpected. He jumped up into her arms and gave her what was an unmistakable hug. Kara's face split into a large smile.

"I love him! Thank you, daddy, _thank you_!" she squealed in delight, throwing herself into my arms.

It was worth it. Sure, Astrid was upset with me. Sure, Kara may never learn to fly. But the fact that I had done something that made her this happy made me ecstatic. I tightly hugged her back.

"I love you, Kara." I whispered.

And for just a moment, all was well. But I knew that wasn't going to last.


	4. Chapter 3: Who Says You Have to Fly?

_Reviews are lovely so keep them coming. This went from the exciting fantasy romp I was originally going to write to being a very emotionally driven story. Which means I'm probably going to be a Miss Pookamonga in that I make you all very sad. Not as much with this chapter though. I decided I'm going to have the next chapter finished when I post a new one so I need to finish Chapter 5 before I post Chapter 4 (which is finished). Anyway, that's nothing to do with this chapter so enjoy!_

**Chapter Three: Who Says You Have to Fly a Dragon to Train It? (Kara)**

_September 9__th_

Today is my birthday. I turn 16 years old ad apparently I will have to eat my words. I said I didn't want a dragon but dad got me the perfect one. I've decided to name him Teggie. I know that may sound like an odd name but, I don't know, he just looks like a Teggie to me. My mom has been giving my dad some very deadly looks but he seems positively cheerful.

Teggie is loyal, funny, sweet, and everything I want in a pet, just so long as I can't fly him. He's the size of a sheep and is a deep blue. The moment I woke up on my birthday, I immediately went to show him off to my friends at the academy.

Tollum was the first person I met with my new dragon. He was flying to the academy with Spike but clearly he was still working on trust. Or maybe he was just really bad at flying because he crashed into Teggie and me at top speed.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, Miss Haddock." He said as he helped me up. "I did attempt to navigate an evasive maneuver around you while still maintaining course and speed but evidently I overcompensated."

That's the way Tollum talks. A mouthful of gigantic words. Considering his father is Tuffnut, I wonder where on Berk the smart gene came from but I had long since decided not to ask too many questions. Tollum had a way of talking far too much.

"It's okay, Tollum." I said, brushing myself off. "I was just on my way to show you my new dragon. Meet Teggie."

Tollum's face brightened at the sight of my dragon, who seemed to have forgiven him for his earlier mishap.

"I see you have acquired a Common Garden Dragon. As the name suggests, these dragons are quite prevalent and often infest gardens during the coldest seasons as an attempt to gain sustenance to last through the…"

"That's nice, Tollum." I smiled weakly. "But here comes Camicazi."

"Kara!" Camicazi called. "Gods, I haven't seen you around in days! Where have you been? Your dad says you've been hiding from everyone, is that true?"

"Well, maybe a little." I shrugged. "But I finally got my dragon!"

"Really? Where?" Camicazi looked around expectantly.

"Look down." I said, sighing.

"Oh… that little dragon?" Camicazi looked disappointed. "So I guess you're not joining us at the academy then."

"No… I don't think so." I looked down at my shoes.

"Oh… I guess that's a good thing. I don't want you to get nauseous again." Camicazi laughed.

Thor, how does that story keep getting spread around?

"That was once! And he took me upside down!" I snapped, feeling my face turn scarlet.

"Motion sickness is a common ailment and nothing to be ashamed of, Miss Haddock." Tollum piped up.

"Yes, thanks Tollum. You're a big help." I said sarcastically.

"Tollum's a big help? You must be desperate."

In flew Madguts on his dragon. I hoped to the gods that my face didn't go any more red than it already was.

"Very droll, Mr. Ingerman." said Tollum, unfazed.

"Why thank you, Mr. Thorston." Madguts retaliated. "Gods, why don't you talk like a normal person?"

"Oh shut up, Madguts, give it a rest." Camicazi rolled her eyes.

"So Kara," Madguts said, turning to me. "I see you've got a dragon now. Nice."

"Yeah… well, you know. He… kind of bonded with me." I said shakily.

"Seems like the perfect dragon for you." Madguts grinned at me. My heart skipped a beat. "So your dad's going to be mad if we're late. But hey, it was cool seeing you."

Camicazi and Tollum mounted their dragons and rode off to the academy. Madguts' saddle was a bit loose so he stayed behind to tighten it.

"Hey… Madguts." I said, surprised at my daring. "You guys get a lunch break, don't you?"

"Yep. Every day at 1. Why?"

"Well… I mean I was wondering if maybe… maybe you wanted to, you know… get lunch? Together? No one else?" My heart was pounding in my ears.

Madguts turned around to look at me. I couldn't read his expression. After an agonizing few seconds, he smiled.

"Why not? Meet you at the academy." He said, tightening his saddle at last and mounting his dragon.

"I'll be there." I stammered.

He took off. There's something so… so attractive in the way he flies his dragon. His light brown hair flying out behind him (he sometimes ruffles it on purpose to make it look like he's just gotten off his dragon). He has piercing blue eyes and perfect lips and… I think I melted into a puddle on the ground as I watched him ride away.

Teggie let out a soft growl to remind me he was still sitting there. "I'm sorry, Teggie." I said. "I didn't mean to ignore you. Let's go over on that hill and see what kind of fire power you have!"

"Twenty-two second blast of fire." Said a familiar voice. "Then you have to wait about three or four minutes for him to recharge."

I turned and there came Fishlegs, smiling at me serenely.

"Hey," I said, grinning. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Quite a while. But it's nice seeing you again. And I think it's your birthday too." Fishlegs laughed. "Gods, has it really been sixteen years?"

"Apparently." I shrugged.

I feel awkward when people bring up the story of my birth. So I was born at the arena, big deal. I think the details of the story gets more and more exciting (and false). Last year, I heard this little kid tell his friend that I was born on the back of Stormfly and that my mom wasn't able to catch me in time and I fell but Toothless swooped underneath Stormfly and my dad caught me. That's my favorite version. But I'm pretty sure the one my parents told me is correct. I still don't think it's _that_ exciting but Berk seems to disagree.

"I actually can't stay but I'm glad I saw you." Fishlegs said as he walked away.

I turned to Teggie. "Well… let's see it."

Sure enough, it was twenty-two seconds of fire. Exactly twenty two. That seemed to be the extent of his abilities. He couldn't fly, shoot sparks, or light himself on fire. My dad was right; he really is the perfect dragon for me.

I have to go now. It's almost one and I don't want to keep Madguts waiting. I can't believe we're finally going out! I have Teggie to thank for that, I guess. I don't think I'd have the confidence if not for him. I can hear my mom banging around downstairs so I'm not sure it's safe. It takes a long time for her to calm down and she's still mad at my dad for the dragon thing.

Writing in this is really helping. I feel a lot calmer already! Thor's hammer, I've got to get running. I'll write again real soon!

_September 9th (later)_

I simply cannot keep to myself what happened this afternoon! Oh I've been thinking about it for hours but simply could not figure out how to write it out until now!

As you know, I think Madguts is simply gorgeous. We met at the academy at exactly one and he took me to the shore. He even left his dragon at the academy (I think she got hurt in the last training session so my dad was trying to make sure she was okay). This was better anyway. I didn't want him to see Madguts and me together. I left Teggie at home. He seemed rather irritated but I couldn't just bring him with me, not to this important event.

"So Kara... why did you ask me to come?" Madguts asked me after we had been sitting on the shore for a few minutes.

"Oh... well, you know... I don't know you very well. And I wanted to... get to know you." I really hope my face didn't go red there but it felt so hot, I'd be surprised if it didn't.

"Oh of course." Madguts laughed. "Nothing to do with the fact that you've been staring at me whenever you get the chance."

I'm pretty sure my face burned redder than ever.

"Stare? Me? Nah, I wouldn't... I mean why would I..."

"Hey..." Madguts placed his hand on mine. "I didn't say I minded."

My heart began to pound in my throat.

"We barely know each other." I said, staring more at my shoes than at him.

"Don't we?" Medguts smiled. "I know you always stare at your shoes every time you're nervous."

THUMP-THUMP... THUMP-THUMP... my heart was starting to get louder and louder.

"And I know your mind is always six thoughts ahead of what you're saying so you always come out with something that doesn't make a lot of sense." Madguts leaned in closer.

"Well... I don't know much about you..." I could barely speak above a whisper.

"You're right... you don't." said Madguts, leaning closer still. "All you need to know is that I noticed..." he kissed me on the cheek.

"What... what are you doing?"

"This." Madguts took the opportunity I presented by turning my head to face his and kissed me.

Oh, what a kiss. I'll never forget it. His lips felt warm and soft. He teased me a bit with his tongue, not actually placing it in my mouth but very nearly doing so. His arms clutched my waist. I was so surprised, it took me a moment to reciprocate. My face felt hot but he seemed to like it that way. All of this staring at him and waiting for him to notice me... this was heaven. This was perfect. This was...

I heard a twig snap behind us. We broke apart but we didn't see anyone standing there.

Oh, that was the best afternoon of my life. We kissed for what felt like hours. He was even late to the academy thanks to me. But everything was perfect. I'm going to marry Madguts one day. We'll be together forever!

Well, my dad's calling for me. I'd better hide this. But I'll be back!

_I've noticed the fact that my story is going in the emotionally damaging territory (you don't notice it with this chapter but it kicks in with the next). I'm not sure whether to apologize or not because writing dramatic, emotional tension is actually a lot of fun. I will say that with the next chapter onward, it's going to be quite a ride. It's actually in character but I honestly have a habit of letting my characters write themselves and that's kind of what happened. Chapter Four is coming soon! As always review! Thanks for the new reviews and keep them coming!_


	5. Chapter 4: The Fight

**Chapter Four: The Fight (Hiccup)**

I woke up on Kara's birthday feeling immensely proud of myself. I had managed to make my daughter happy and get her a dragon at the same time. As for Astrid, I knew she wouldn't stay angry forever. I wanted to wake Kara up but she had already left. Her dragon was gone too so I thought they probably went together. I went downstairs and was met by Astrid's glare.

"Hey… Astrid." I said, trying not to sound like I felt guilty for doing something that bothered her this time.

"Don't 'hey Astrid' me!" Astrid slammed down the bowl she was washing. "I know you're just trying to make me forgive you for going behind my back and getting Kara a dragon she can't ride."

"I thought if she got used to this one, she'll get used to riding one at some point in the future…" I knew my logic still didn't make sense but Astrid was already angry so I thought I couldn't possibly make the situation worse.

"When, Hiccup? When she's 30?" Astrid turned around and glared at me. It was as if clear blue knives were piercing me.

"Well you're not going to get anywhere by forcing her to fly before she's ready! You forget who you're talking to! My dad made me do all kinds of things I could never do and…"

"You couldn't do those things because you were small and not meant to be a tough dragon killer! This is completely different, and you know it!"

I threw up my arms in frustration. "How many times are you going to force her to fly when she's obviously perfectly content on the ground? How much vomit am I going to have to clean off _my _dragon because of _your_ stubbornness?"

"When are you ever going to side with me? Since the day she was born, it was all about making _her_ comfortable but you never even think about me anymore…"

"You did _not_ just go there, Astrid, you know I love you and I've proven that I do so why do you always…"

"That was _one time_ and bear in mind that you very nearly lost your head and _killed_ one of those boys…"

"I can't have this argument with you, Astrid!" I shouted. I stormed over to Toothless, who was looking very nervous. "Come on, bud." I said and mounted him.

"Well you can't run forever!" Astrid called at us as we flew away.

I ignored my wife. The nerve of her… I was furious. This wasn't the first time we argued. And it certainly wasn't going to be the last time either. But Astrid had said some things that were completely out of line. How could she think I didn't love her? How could she think I only thought of Kara? How? I think of them both! They're all I think about! Them… and the academy… and Toothless…

I barely noticed what I was teaching. The result of which got Fireworm, Madguts' dragon, cut by a badly made addition to her saddle. Madguts wasn't happy about that.

"I'm sorry, Madguts, I can bandage her up. She'll be fine."

"She _better _be fine! If she isn't, I'm not going to keep coming here; I'll train her on my own!" Madguts seethed.

Secretly, I thought he would be better off training Fireworm himself, what with the distractions he was constantly presenting in class. He was clearly his mother's son.

"She'll be _fine_, Madguts, now go eat lunch!" I pointed out the door.

Muttering darkly to myself, I started to clean Fireworm's cut. How could Astrid act this way?

"She's being completely unreasonable." I muttered to Fireworm. "She assumes that just because I sometimes side with Kara, I don't care about her opinion. I do, I just think it's wrong!"

"Uhh, Hiccup…"

"I told you, I don't want to keep arguing about this with you!" I snapped.

"We were arguing? Cool. Wait, what were we arguing about?"

I turned around, surprised by that response and then felt thoroughly embarrassed.

"Ruffnut. I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

Ruffnut stood there in front of me, hands on her hips and looking at me. She always looks like she's about to get into trouble.

"Oh. I thought we were going to fight." Ruffnut looked disappointed.

"Look, if this is about Madguts, I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention when I was making the connecting rod but Fireworm's going to be fine so tell him not to worry."

Ruffnut looked confused. Well, that might have been her normal expression. I'm never sure with her.

"I don't know anything about Fireworm but I came over to tell you that Madguts and Kara were like _totally _making out a few minutes ago."

I dropped everything I was carrying. "They were _what_?"

"Making out. It was cool. I didn't know my kid and your kid liked each other."

My head was spinning. "Uhh well they can't! Tell Madguts not to... not to… do that with Kara anymore." I didn't even care that Fireworm irritably growled at me to get back to work on her leg. This was much more important. "They can't!"

"They can't? They looked like they were doing it pretty well…"

"Doing it? Doing what?" I exclaimed, losing my head completely. I ran up and grabbed Ruffnut by the shoulders. "What did you see? What were they doing?"

"Are we gonna fight now?" Ruffnut looked excited.

"_No, we're not going to fight now, tell me what you saw!"_ I yelled in her face.

"Oh. I told you what I saw. They were making out."

I wasn't sure whether or not to feel relieved. On the one hand, Madguts wasn't doing… _that _to _my _daughter. On the other hand, Madguts was making out with _my_ daughter! I had to set him straight! He couldn't do that and get away with it! I couldn't decide whether to beat Madguts senselessly or give Kara a lecture. Thinking of the last time I beat someone senselessly out of anger, I decided to go with the lecture. I finally managed to get rid of Ruffnut, for some reason I blamed her for her son's actions.

Trying to teach Camicazi, Tollum, and Madguts how to fine tune their dragon training was torture that day. I tried not to glare at Madguts but I wasn't sure I could help it. He was so smug, like he had the best secret in the world. Like defiling _my daughter_ was something to be proud of. I wanted to punch that smug smile off his face. I wanted to rip him to pieces. Thank Thor Toothless was there. He always calms me down.

Next to the actual day, this was the worst Kara's birthday I'd ever had.

I stormed home that day in a rage. I was so angry I decided _not _to ride Toothless. I didn't want to accidentally hurt him. Toothless looked so concerned, so upset. I didn't want to alarm him but I was so furious, I couldn't help talking to him.

"That miserable… thing…" I've never been good at insults. "That smug, horrible, disgusting…"

Toothless wouldn't let me finish this thought. He scurried ahead of me and blocked my path.

"Move over." I crossed my arms. "I'm not mad at you, don't worry."

Toothless snorted and cocked his head to the side.

"What do you want me to do? First my wife accuses me of not caring about her and then the dumbest kid in my class has his tongue down Kara's throat." I seethed. "I can either go _kill_ Madguts or I can tell Kara not to let that piece of scum near her again."

Toothless whined. He didn't usually whine unless he was really upset.

"I'm sorry, bud. Bet it's been rough on you, these last few years." I patted my dragon on the head. "I didn't know being a dad could be so… so difficult."

Toothless sat down. Well… I wasn't going to get him to budge until he wanted to and I certainly didn't want to walk home without him. I sat down next to him.

"I love them so much. Both of them. But I keep getting it wrong." I sighed. "Maybe I was the one that was wrong. This whole husband and father thing, everyone else makes it look so easy. You know, I could kill that Red Death and I wasn't even that scared. But everything about being a dad is scary. And I don't even ride you for fun anymore." I looked into Toothless' eyes and suddenly felt a surge of guilt. "You know what, bud? Let's go. Right now."

Toothless grinned. I mounted him and then we were off. I had forgotten how incredibly freeing this was. The wind in my hair, the dragon beneath me guiding me… why didn't I do this more often? That was it; I decided I had to go riding, just Toothless and me, every day for a while. All my stress seemed to melt away…

* * *

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, where _were_ you?" Astrid snapped.

All the stress came back. Every last bit of it.

"Toothless and I went flying." I glared at Astrid. "Going to tell me off for that?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Astrid crossed her arms in an annoyingly superior fashion. "I had no idea where you were. I was starting to get worried. And in case you hadn't noticed, it's Kara's birthday. She was wondering why you weren't back yet."

"Well I'm here and I'm fine. Maybe I shouldn't have come back at all!" I snapped back at Astrid. "Kara hasn't exactly been such a perfect little princess today either. Ruffnut says she caught her and Madguts making out this afternoon."

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So she's too young for that!" I spat.

"We made out for the first time when we were younger than her. Again… so?"

"So it's wrong and she needs to stop it!"

"I need to stop what?" Kara asked, walking into the room, her new dragon at her ankles.

"Kissing that rude, smug excuse for a…"

"Madguts?" Kara looked shocked. "How did you find out about that?"

"It doesn't matter…" Astrid tried to say but I spoke over her.

"It doesn't matter how I found out about it, the point is that it needs to stop, young lady!" I kicked a nearby bucket and it narrowly missed the dragon.

"I will kiss whoever the _Hel_ I want!" Kara crossed her arms and glared at me. Suddenly, all her resemblance to me seemed to melt away. All I saw was her mother.

"Oh no you won't! As long as you live under _my_ roof, you will do whatever _I _say!" I shouted, enraged.

"Well maybe I don't want to live under your roof anymore!" Kara shrieked.

"Fine! Go! Can't exactly get very far from here if you can't fly on a dragon!"

"_Hiccup!"_

Kara stared at me in shock for a moment. Tears began to drip down her face. I suddenly felt extremely guilty.

"Fine!" Kara said, more to herself than me. She turned and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Way to go, Hiccup. And you can just sleep on the couch tonight." Astrid turned around.

"Astrid… I just…"

But I had no excuse. No comforting words. Nothing. At a complete loss for words, I patted Toothless on the head.

"Come on, bud." I said, mounting him once more.

As we flew far above the clouds, the stinging in my eyes became too much. For the first time ever, I buried my face in my dragon and forced myself not to cry.

_This will be my last chapter for a while. I'm finding myself really busy and also running out of steam. I know what's going to happen and since I'm trying to practice actually FINISHING a project, I will actually finish this but it'll take more time. To tide you over, I'm working on a very amusing short story. Expect that soon._


	6. Chapter 5: Bliss and Boundaries

**Chapter Five: Bliss and Boundaries (Kara)**

_October 3__rd_

I hid this so well, I had forgotten where I put it. I finally found it and am going to attempt to put to words the absolutely wonderful month I've had! Madguts and I have spent most of it running to the farthest ends of Berk to be together. I'd travel to the end of the earth to be with him!

I haven't written much about Madguts himself. Well, for starters, he's almost a year younger than me. He's also about a foot taller than me with light brown hair and perfect eyes and… it's impossible to describe him properly. I think I'll paint him later. I really don't have a way with words. I'm sure anyone reading this will think it's boring. Good thing this is so well hidden.

You're probably wondering how my family feels about Madguts and my relationship with him and all that. Well, my dad and I aren't speaking to each other. Every time he says something to me, I ignore him. Madguts says he's been harder on him while at the academy. It's not as though he minds, he and Fireworm have become an even better pair now, but it is irksome to think that my dad might be targeting him. Madguts also tells me that my mom keeps giving my dad sideways glances whenever he says something to him that might sound remotely threatening. He says she's been extra nice to him.

As for his parents, I wasn't expecting much of a fight. Well, not in the way you'd expect it. Ruffnut is always looking for a fight but she seems to like me. I think it's my hair. She likes anything that's as wild as she is. And Fishlegs, well, I don't know how he feels about us. He certainly wouldn't disagree with Ruffnut in her presence and seems oddly paranoid that any disagreement he has will make its way to her. But he's a nice guy so I'm guessing he's fine with it too. On a completely random note, Ruffnut and Fishlegs are the weirdest couple I've ever seen. There's definitely some kind of affection between them but… it doesn't make a lot of sense. Madguts and I won't be like that. Anyway, it's just my dad and me having these arguments mostly. Of course, his parents and my parents are the only ones who know we're together. Madguts wants to keep our relationship hidden. That's fine for now but I want to show him off to the world!

I'm sick of writing now and my hand hurts.

_October 7__th_

There were flurries of snow today. Madguts and I went into a cove to keep ourselves warm. He didn't even bring Fireworm that time. I asked him if we were going to keep our relationship a secret from the rest of our group any longer.

"Of course." He said with a smile that melted my heart. "I don't want anyone to think your dad favors me."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't think anyone does. If anything, they probably think he hates you."

"Well… better be safe. You know, Kara… we could always take this to the next level." Madguts winked at me.

"Next level?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"You know…" he slid his hand down my back. "Next level."

It suddenly dawned on me what he was saying and I was horrified.

"_We can't do that, it's wrong!"_ I whispered to him all in one breath.

"Fine, fine. Never mind. Forget I said anything." Madguts looked annoyed.

His annoyance didn't last though. If he thought about it again, he didn't let on. But I've been sitting here thinking for the last hour… did I make the right choice? Madguts and I are so perfect for each other… maybe it's time.

_October 12__th_

I just realized that I haven't written much about Teggie. That seems kind of stupid considering he's just about the best dragon ever. Who cares that Toothless is a rare species, my dragon doesn't throw me into the air and expect me to land on him perfectly or do anything death defying. In fact, his blasts of fire have given me an idea for my archery. I've started trying to invent a material that will allow me to shoot flaming arrows.

Archery soothes me. So does painting but I have an awful habit of not being able to finish what I start. I tried painting Madguts yesterday but I couldn't quite capture his essence on the paper so I decided to just scrap it. Teggie helps me a lot while I work on my archery inventions. I've tried just lighting the arrows on fire themselves but they keep burning too fast and igniting the bow. Metal either doesn't catch fire or it melts. Teggie's been really patient with me. He lights my bow on fire every time I ask.

My most spectacular failure was the day Madguts suggested I use some of Fireworm's acid to ignite my arrow. The arrow dissolved completely and gave me a pretty bad burn. This actually led to a success because I realized that if I coated the arrow in metal and dried the acid on it, I could burn through targets. It makes quite a lethal weapon. I thought about showing it to my dad but he probably wouldn't find it all that interesting. I did show it to Gobber and he loves the idea. Maybe a little too much. Madguts is kind of mad at me because now Gobber is constantly bugging him about getting more acid for the bows. I hope it's not going to mess up our relationship.

_October 15__th_

I've figured it out! If I coat the arrows in wool, soak them, and let them dry overnight, the arrows will burn the wool before it burns the wood, giving me plenty of time to shoot the arrows before they light my bow on fire. Teggie is kind of relieved I've come up with this solution. It's nice having a constant source of firepower. That doesn't mean I want to fly on a dragon anytime soon…

_October 24__th_

I have the worst dad ever! Seriously the worst! I can't think of anything more humiliating than what he did to me!

Madguts and I hid in the academy after the class that day for a little extra time together. I think we were going to take our relationship to the "next level" (in his words). Apparently my dad forgot something because he burst in us and starting freaking out! All I will say is that I can't stand living with him! He's always glaring at me! It's driving me crazy! That's it! Madguts and I are running away together on Fireworm. I don't think we'll be gone forever but it's time we did because this whole dad thing is driving us crazy. We'll just have to teach him a lesson about irritating us any more!

_I'm really sorry this chapter is short and terrible. If you're seeing this message, it means I spent a long time trying to fix it and came up with nothing. To be honest, it's setting up some stuff but I'm finding that I really like writing for Hiccup but not so much for Kara. So I guess you can expect the Hiccup chapters to be good but the Kara ones to be only sort of good. Right now, Kara's a dumb teenage girl and I think dumb teenage girls aren't fun to write for. She gets better, I promise (there might be sequels in which she does a lot of awesome stuff… maybe. I've been toying with an idea). Again, I'm sorry. I'll keep working on it._


	7. Chapter 6: Apologies and Aggression

_Writing for Hiccup again (HOORAY!). He's much more interesting right now. Him as a dad dealing with Kara adds so much whereas I've already been a whiny teenager and written as a whiny teenager and now I'm done with it, it's not much fun. Like I said before, Kara will change but for now, she's just no fun to write. I also renamed this chapter because despite some very cute Hiccstrid moments, the title seemed to be repelling the viewers. I had to come up with something more creative to keep you guys interested!  
_

**Chapter Six: Apologies and Aggression (Hiccup)**

When I landed later on the night of Kara's birthday, I had thought long and hard about what I was going to say to my wife. I was still upset at Kara for having such poor judgment but I decided that making peace with Astrid was much more important. I must have gotten back very late but she was still awake. I think she was too upset to go to sleep.

"Astrid…" I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to figure out what to say. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Astrid looked up, surprised. "Sorry?"

"Yeah, sorry. It's when you feel bad about being an idiot. And I was an idiot." I knew blunt honesty and humility would probably get me a lot farther than anything else. And I really hated sleeping on the couch.

"I've been thinking too." Astrid admitted, sitting down. "I think we were both wrong."

I sat down next to Astrid. "I agree. Sometimes we can be pretty stupid." I took her hand. "For what it's worth… I love you. And I realized that I've been focusing way too much on getting Kara to ride and train and like dragons that I've… well I've kind of been acting like my dad did with me before I met Toothless."

"Yeah, Hiccup, you have." Astrid agreed. "Look… I'm glad that you're putting this much effort into making sure Kara's happy. And I know she doesn't show it now but she'll appreciate it later on. But there comes a time when you've got to put your foot down and not let her control you. And I don't think you've been doing that."

I shook my head. "I haven't." I said. It was the first time I admitted it to myself.

Astrid and I sat in silence for a while. One of the things I love most about her is that long stretches of silence are never awkward with her. It's almost as if we can communicate using our emotions, our thoughts, our very being. I watched her stare into the fire Stormfly had so kindly set for us. For the first time, I noticed some wrinkles forming on the edges of her eyes and around her mouth. I wondered if I'd developed them myself. Some days it felt like the day she and I went on our first flight on Toothless was yesterday. Other days it felt like fifty years ago. I thought back to that day, how I had naively thought I was in love. That wasn't love. That was lust and a surge of hormones. What I had for Astrid in that moment as I watched her stare wistfully into the flames… that was love.

I placed my head on Astrid's shoulder. Almost instinctively, she wrapped me in her arms and kissed me on the top of my head. I knew I was forgiven for my earlier outburst and I was very thankful that Astrid so rarely held grudges. Something that had been eating at me for a long time finally came up.

"Astrid…" I whispered so that only she could hear. "Am I a good dad?"

Astrid waited a moment before responding. "Why do you ask that?"

"Well…" I paused, wanting what I had to say to come out just right. "I see the other kids at the academy. Camicazi and Tollum and Madguts… and they're happy. They're fearless. Tollum is brilliant, never forgets anything I say, which can be kind of annoying. Camicazi is fierce. She reminds me of her dad sometimes. She's always finding new ways to nearly get us killed while we're in the arena and she seems to really enjoy it. And Madguts may not have much in the way of brains but he's certainly confident. It's as though all the other people in our class at the academy, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs, have this parenting thing down."

Astrid squeezed my shoulder. "I think you're the best parent out of all of them."

I looked up at Astrid and met her gaze. "Why?" I asked.

"Well look at the other kids. Tollum's brilliant but he has no idea how to talk like a normal person. He's always accidentally offending someone. Camicazi is bordering on homicidal with her constant attempts to do death defying stunts that nearly gets everyone killed. And Madguts is all brute force but no brains." Astrid smiled at me. "Now look at Kara. She's smart, social, friendly… she's just like you."

"Me?"

"Hiccup, do you remember when you almost won the Thawfest Games and you threw the race to let Snotlout win purely out of the goodness of your heart?"

I nodded. That particular memory stuck with me because it was the first of many of those events I had to throw to appease his need for victory.

"Kara's like that all the time. She's humble and compassionate. There's nothing wrong with that. And maybe she has skills we don't know about. Skills she doesn't think we care about because of the whole dragon thing." Astrid lightly punched my arm. "I'll say this for her, she doesn't take after me."

"Hey," I kissed Astrid on the cheek. "I'd love her no matter who she acted like. Of course, two people in my life hitting me for no good reason might be more than I could handle."

"You know it." Astrid winked at me. "I'm going to bed. You coming?"

"In a minute." I said. I wasn't feeling tired enough to try to get any sleep and my tossing and turning had the tendency to annoy Astrid.

As I stared into the fire, I began to think back to the years before. The days in which Kara's cries kept Astrid and me up so much I almost had to stop riding Toothless in fear that our sleep deprivation would get us killed. The day Kara wandered off when she was three and the entire village spent hours looking for her only to find her asleep in the food shelter. The day she skinned her knee and didn't stop crying until she was in my arms. The day I convinced her to go flying with me by promising that she could trust me. She had always trusted me before. All of the things that made being a father so difficult made it so worthwhile when she was in my arms, when I felt that I could protect her. Now that she had gotten older, protecting her was a much bigger challenge.

A month passed without incident. Though I was tougher on Madguts, his form and training had improved immensely, so much that I considered being harder on the other kids too. I watched Kara and Teggie wander around together, often accompanied by her bow (which got the oddest scorch marks on it after her birthday). She had started taking an interest in metalwork but refused to let me teach her. Instead, she spent long hours with Gobber helping him with dragon care while he showed her the fine art of making weapons. I suspected Teggie was a large part of this because he never left her side.

Ruffnut never hesitated to let me know when she caught Kara and Madguts together. It was beginning to get more infuriating each time but telling her to stop seemed to confuse her. It astounded me how someone could stay so dense despite having a teenage son. Having Kara changed Astrid and me more than I could have anticipated yet Ruffnut (and Tuffnut as well) were still up to their shenanigans. I often marveled at Fishlegs and Melva for having the patience to put up with their spouses, who still would skirt their responsibilities to cause trouble and mayhem. Perhaps that's why Madguts was as stupid as he was and Tollum so socially inept.

Over a month after Kara and my birthday argument, I finally snapped. After a day at the academy, I sent everyone home with strict instructions to keep practicing what they had learned that day. I mounted Toothless and flew into the clouds, enjoying this moment of complete freedom. I shut my eyes and let the wind rush through my hair. Yet again I wondered why Kara couldn't find this kind of ride exhilarating. I reached into my bag for the Book of Dragons but it wasn't there. Then I remembered leaving it in the stands around the area. Mentally kicking myself in frustration, I turned Toothless around and flew back to the academy.

What I saw the moment I entered was something I tried to put out of my mind for months afterward. Madguts and Kara were together, kissing. Of course, that was nothing new. But Madguts had taken off his shirt and, as I flew in, I saw his hand move up Kara's waist, loosening her belt…

A surge of hot fury took over me. I had Toothless send a plasma blast that missed Madguts' face by inches. He and Kara broke apart, startled.

"Dad?" Kara asked in shock, her mouth dropping open. "What are you doing?"

"You get your hands off my daughter!" I grabbed Madguts' shirt, which was lying next to my feet.

"Or what?" Madguts narrowed his eyes menacingly.

I ripped the shirt in half with strength I didn't even know I had. Madguts looked furious.

"What the Hel are you doing?" he ran forward and snatched the pieces of his shirt from my hand.

"Dad! Stop!" Kara cried but too late. I punched Madguts right between the shoulder blades as he turned around to go back to her.

Madguts turned around, sneering. He punched me in the mouth. Spitting blood, I returned the favor, hitting him in the nose. Kara screamed in horror.

"It was bad enough that you were touching my daughter in the first place but if you even think of doing… doing _that_ to her, I will kill you!" I shouted, losing my head completely.

"It's none of your business what Kara and I do!" Madguts retaliated, mounting Fireworm.

"Stop it, please!" Kara pleaded but to no avail.

I mounted Toothless and sent a plasma blast at Madguts and Fireworm. They flew out of the way just in time and sent a spray of hot, burning acid at Toothless and me. We managed to dodge it but the acid hit Toothless' tail, dissolving all but the metal rods completely. Madguts laughed derisively. How I hated that sound. He and Fireworm faced the exit.

"I think we're done here." He said with a smug grin.

He and Fireworm flew away before I could catch them. Seething, I dismounted Toothless and carefully took off the tail fin. Kara angrily rushed by me, following Madguts, but he was too far away.

"Kara…" I called but if she heard me, she didn't let on. She ran away as fast as she could. "Kara!"

But this was it. I knew I made a huge mistake. I knew I wasn't going to be able to fix this the way I had fixed my problems with Astrid. Even she wasn't _this _obstinate.

Kara didn't come home that evening. I wasn't sure where she was sleeping but I suspected that she was hiding on purpose. I didn't see Madguts either. I hoped they had decent shelter because there was a horrible storm that night with thunder and lightning. I began to worry the next morning when none of my friends had seen either of the teenagers. It struck me as very suspicious. I told Camicazi and Tollum not to bother going to the academy because Astrid and I were far too busy looking for Kara to teach them anything useful.

I don't like worrying. I try not to stress over things I can't control. I suppose that's a very good quality in a Viking but I knew that Fishlegs was my exact opposite in that regard. That being said, a Kara-less night and morning was highly suspicious. When Astrid and I couldn't find her in the village, we finally did something we promised ourselves we'd never do- we went through her belongings. To our horror, we found some of her things missing. Clothes and other necessities were gone.

Fearing the worst, Astrid and I left our house, thinking that we'd enlist Ruffnut and Fishlegs to search for their child too, when we saw a very unusual sight.

From the distance, we saw a dragon flying toward Berk at top speed. Its rider seemed crouched over it and the dragon was flying slightly sideways as a result. Astrid and I stopped, temporarily curious, when we recognized the dragon. It was Fireworm.

"Madguts is back. So Kara must be somewhere on Berk." I reasoned, taking a sigh of relief.

Astrid, however, still stared at the odd sight. "I don't think so." She pointed to the dragon, which was now close enough to identify the rider.

I looked up at Fireworm's rider again and my mouth dropped open in shock. I would know that wild red hair anywhere.

* * *

_You got two chapters today because I am so dissatisfied with Chapter 5 that I felt like I owed it to all of you to actually post a chapter I didn't hate. Chapter 7 is sure to intrigue all of you but it won't be explained for a while. I finally figured out how to work out the bratty teenager issue so she doesn't become annoying but it's still her voice you hear (or read, rather). As always, review! I haven't heard from you all in a while... are my chapters that bad? I'm going to keep writing no matter what though. Doesn't matter how many (or few) reviews I get. But I really like reading them so I have a proposition for you all. Not as a manipulative technique or anything but we'll make it a fair trade. You review a chapter and tell me what you liked/disliked/how I can improve and I will go on your profile and review something you wrote. Unless I get an insane amount of reviews, I think I can hold myself to that.  
_


	8. Chapter 7: The Flight

**Chapter Seven: The Flight (Kara)**

_September 22nd  
_

Today, something unusual came up in our local fishermen's net. It was this journal! I can't believe it survived as well as it did! It's been a few years since I've written anything. Looking back over my time at Berk, I must say that I definitely had some quirks to deal with. As I read over the writings of a newly 16-year-old girl, I remember how I felt when I wrote those words. Though now all I do is marvel at how foolish I was at the time. That being said, I don't much like seeing this journal ending in such a way that could cause the reader to think I died in the romantic flight from Berk. I suppose those reading these words can now assume I got out of it just fine. Or, if you want to get technical, I survived and didn't manage to lose my right arm. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing this.

Someone I recently met here says that writing out events from his past helps him make sense of events in the present. I can't decide whether or not I trust him but I think he's right about that. At present, I am confused about some of the things going on, some of the ways I feel. It's been nearly three years since Madguts and I ran away from home only for me to go flying back. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I think puberty makes everyone stupid. And sometimes, like in the cases of Ruffnut and Tuffnut, that stupidity never wears off. Some days I think I'm wise because of my age and then I get reminded of just how dumb I am. I will certainly be writing about some of these incidents if I can. But I figure since the writings of a mad teenager end here, it's best to continue the story.

I should start by saying that, at the time, I adamantly believed that Madguts was the very embodiment of all things good and attractive in this world. I guess it's silly for me to have thought that simply because he was good looking, but the attention he gave me certainly led to more confusion. In retrospect, I can see he was just using me but at the time, I believed it to be true love. And true love conquers all.

At the time, I feared dragon riding (something I don't like doing to this day, as a matter of fact) so Madguts and I set sail in a ship we'd stolen from some local fishermen with his dragon on board. I forget her name now… was it Flame… something? It's been so long since it happened. Oh, I remember, it was Fireworm. Now I think about it, why was it Fireworm? The ruddy (in more ways than one) dragon couldn't even breathe fire, she spat acid. And she certainly had no resemblance to a worm. But far be it from me to question the offspring of Ruffnut and Fishlegs. Perhaps I should be glad he could actually have a coherent conversation at all.

I am so terrible at staying on topic. Clearly the friend who suggested I write this all down is rubbing off on me. I've got to be careful not to make this a habit but he's so darn cute when he does that. Ugh, there will definitely be more about that guy in later passages. He's way down the timeline.

I'm sorry I keep getting sidetracked. Anyway, Madguts and I set sail at dusk that night. I wanted nothing more than to be away from my father. He was making my life a living Hel at home. I can see why he was so upset now but he definitely should have kept his cool. Madguts and I had a vague idea of just sailing around for a while and then coming back to Berk. We thought maybe we could find Trader Johann and he could tell us where to go. Where there weren't any awful parents to keep us from each other.

Madguts and I were… well… okay if I'm being honest, we were making out. It was pretty hot. I'll say this much for Madguts, he was a good kisser. I've had a little more experience now and he's definitely one of the best. Thank Thor it never got any farther because several hours later, a storm hit. The waves started to crash over the edges of the ship and Madguts and I started to become worried. Lightning struck the top of the ship (so foolishly made of metal) and radiated downward until it knocked us out.

I woke up with some minor cuts and bruises. Nothing too serious. Madguts and I were lying in the sand in an unknown location. It was dawn. Fireworm was whining about something so I looked over to Madguts and was horrified with what I saw. He had a large gash in his leg that was bleeding profusely. If he didn't get medical attention soon, he would die.

I looked around. Unfortunately, we seemed to be stuck on a very small island. Remnants of our ship were floating all over the place. I wonder how we didn't end up dying and especially how we ended up on the island together. The gods were watching out for us, I suppose. But that left only one option to get help. Fireworm.

I hadn't ridden a dragon in months. The last time I rode one, I had gotten about a hundred feet up and vomited all over myself, my dad, and poor Toothless. Dad was so sweet and understanding about it but I was humiliated. I wondered if I could even fly a dragon with the motion sickness I would get. But I had no choice.

"Come on, girl. We're going to go get help." I stroked Fireworm's head. She looked at me. "We're going to save your owner, I promise."

Something in her eyes told me that she understood. I mounted her. What was it my dad had said about where to place my feet? I'd never ridden a Changewing before. I was terrified. I stroked Fireworm's back.

"All right, girl. Let's go." I said as I squeezed my eyes shut.

Shutting my eyes was a terrible idea. I had the sudden unpleasant feeling that I was being thrown out of a catapult with no support. I opened my eyes to make sure Fireworm hadn't thrown me off and was relieved to see that she hadn't. I had no idea where we were so, I reasoned, the only way to tell would be to fly very high and look around for Berk. If it weren't for Madguts, I certainly wouldn't have done it. But it was a good thing we did because the direction I thought we were was all wrong. I supposed I'd hit my head. The dizziness certainly didn't help and twice I had to choke down vomit. I figured vomiting on Fireworm, with no understanding father behind me, would be a very bad idea. Though, I thought with slight amusement, it would be like giving her a taste of her own medicine to spew out some of my own acid on her. But the moment of amusement didn't last.

I decided that, since she could see Berk (as a speck in the distance but still visible), I would merely bury my face into her and endure the ride. This worked for a while until we started to descend. Without realizing it, I had upset her center of gravity and caused her to fly somewhat sideways, something I never did get the chance to apologize for. I do feel bad for her, it's not Fireworm's fault she had an imbecile for an owner.

To my dismay (and slight embarrassment), I landed right in front of my parents. Of all the places to land on Berk, why did I have to land there? I slid off Fireworm, shaking like crazy, and very nearly passed out. My dad, all anger forgotten, rushed forward to help me up.

"Kara… oh thank Thor... are you okay?" my dad said, rather breathlessly, as he held me up (I was still too shaky to stand).

I nodded but my parents both looked horrified. I felt my face, confused, and realized there was a scab above my left eye and my right eye must have been blackened by the crash. A moment later, my dad confirmed my suspicions as to their conclusions.

"What did Madguts do to you? Did he hit you? If he laid a hand on you, I will kill him, I will kill him with my bare hands." My dad raged.

"Madguts didn't do this." I shook my head. "He didn't. He's hurt. We need to help him."

My dad shook his head, hugging me so hard I feared I'd break a rib. "I don't care. I just want to make sure you're all right. I was so worried."

My mom, who was standing back and watching this from a bit of a distance, frowned. I just knew a lecture was on its way.

"Hiccup, if Madguts is in trouble, you need to go save him. Kara looks fine." She said, rather sharply.

Looking back, I think she was both angry at me for leaving and a little miffed at my dad for forgiving me so fast. My dad looked conflicted for a moment but then nodded, letting me go (though not without making sure I could now stand up on my own).

"I'm going to go get Fishlegs and Ruffnut. I think they can get Madguts back to safety." He took a deep breath, probably to make sure his voice was steady. "I'll go with them. Toothless is best at being able to see from a distance, he might find Madguts the fastest. Kara can ride with me and show me where to go."

My mom glared at me and shook her head. "She's staying here. After her little stunt last night, she's staying here for a long, long time."

My dad nodded once and then ran off, calling for Toothless as he ran. Mom grabbed me by the elbow and led me into the house. Teggie ran up to me, looking depressed about being left behind. I had wanted to bring him but I didn't want to leave him and Fireworm alone together for his own safety. Besides, I was planning to come back. But the look in his eyes made me feel even worse.

"I'm sorry, buddy." I said, reaching out for him, but he scurried away.

Great, I thought. Now everyone hates me. I could only hope that Madguts would be grateful to me for saving his life. That, I reasoned, would be reward enough.


	9. Chapter 8: A Reluctant Rescue

_This is a really long update, I know. It was actually going to be the shortest one yet but then I was inspired halfway through and kept writing until it went on longer than expected. Enjoy!_

**Chapter Eight: A Reluctant Rescue (Hiccup)**

I gritted my teeth in a way that could be considered menacing on a more menacing looking face. I didn't _want _to go rescue that pathetic excuse for a Viking. But Fishlegs and Ruffnut, though incredibly annoying at times, were family to me. And to leave their son to die wasn't something I was willing to do. I had values and ethics I had to uphold. At that moment, I cursed those values and ethics.

Finding Ruffnut and Fishlegs was very easy because they can be found in predictable places. All I had to do was look for two blonde heads and I'd find Ruffnut and Tuffnut wreaking havoc on Berk. Idiots. Fishlegs was usually home unless he and Meatlug had somewhere specific to go. He didn't at this point and joined our rescue mission without hesitation. I had to give him credit for caring about his son a heck of a lot more than I did. And Ruffnut's parenting instinct, though notoriously shallow, kicked in when she heard that her son was in trouble. Even Tuffnut agreed to join us, though I told him that four people were too many for this mission and that if he wanted to be helpful, he could be home actually spending time with his _own _son. That shut him up.

After getting Fishlegs and Ruffnut together, we flew back to my house because I realized that I hadn't gotten a proper description of exactly where to find the Viking boy I so hated.

"An island. Just sand, nothing else." was Kara's response.

She looked very upset about something but time was of the essence so I forced myself not to ask what.

We took off, me on Toothless, Fishlegs on Meatlug, and Ruffnut on Barf and Belch (we had finally devised a way of riding them that allowed only one rider. This had led to Tuffnut getting his own Whispering Death, which he had always wanted). The going was slow at first. I told Toothless to peer over the sea, trying to find that small island. He spotted it before I did and I had an uncomfortable swooping sensation in my stomach as he suddenly dive-bombed the island. Perhaps he knew how urgent it was. If it weren't for the fact that I trusted him, I would have been terrified of falling off.

As Toothless descended, I felt a sudden wave of dread. If I let it known that I had helped Madguts, of all people, fly to safety, the village would assume I approved of the relationship. It would be an awful lot of explaining and if there was one thing I hated, it was having to explain the same thing over and over again, especially to a large crowd. But, with Tuffnut back on Berk, I assumed everyone would know about Madguts' predicament by the time I got back. Why did that idiot always require so much attention? And how could I explain to Kara that no matter what I did for her boyfriend (I vomited in my mouth a bit at that thought) I still hated him? It was something I didn't want to think about.

Seeing Madguts lying there with blood gushing out of his leg gave me fierce pleasure. I didn't want him to die but somehow, the obvious pain he was in felt like punishment for what he had put me through. A small part of me wanted to make his flight back to Berk as uncomfortable as possible but Fishlegs, panicking the whole time, and Ruffnut gently lifted their son onto Barf and Belch. As a bigger dragon, he (they?) would be able to get them back to safety with less of a risk of Madguts falling off.

Ruffnut and Fishlegs were uncharacteristically silent on the flight back to Berk. They didn't thank me for helping them locate their son but I could tell Fishlegs, at least, was thankful. As for Ruffnut… you probably know her well enough by now to know she didn't let on any emotions, even for her injured son. I would feel like she was a terrible parent for doing so except I didn't think I'd seen many emotions at all the whole time I'd been friends with her. Though I often questioned _why_ we were friends. I suppose if she was capable of deep thought, we might be able to figure it out.

The ride to Berk was thankfully uninteresting. Madguts did not wake up at all but he was still breathing. I wondered how he had survived this long. Probably something to do with being Ruffnut's son. Almost everything tough or wrong with him could be traced back to his mother.

We arrived on Berk to a crowd of people gathered there to make sure Madguts was okay. I'd been right about Tuffnut. Leave it to him to make everything more difficult. Ruffnut took him to the local doctor who held him overnight.

I arrived back at home to a very anxious Kara.

"Is he all right?" she asked, bounding over to me at top speed.

I nodded. "He's fine." I replied.

All the anger I had felt at Kara when she had left was beginning to creep up. I wanted to keep it at bay so it wouldn't frighten her off. It wasn't working.

"I'm going to go lie down." I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could. "Then I'll deal with you, young lady. And you had better not leave this house."

Kara looked a little put out but I didn't care. I had to get away from her before I lost it again.

As I fell back on my bed, I thought back to simpler times. It had been so easy when she was small…

_Damn those trading days. They never got any easier, not even after a decade of being Berk's celebrity. Since the exciting events that took place 11 years ago, I was careful to keep an eye on Astrid the whole time. At first she was very irritated by this but she warmed up to the idea every time I gave her the look I'd first given her when I thought I would lose her. I knew it was emotional blackmail but better to know she was safe than to spend the whole day worrying about her. Kara was only six and I instructed her to stay in the open and play with the other children. She agreed to this cheerfully. She loved to meet the children that came from the other villages._

_After a few hours of being shown off as Berk's celebrity (a status I still hated), I heard a strange yet familiar sound. I stood up and the sound repeated itself. As I listened carefully, ignoring the other sounds, I realized that it was the wail of a child in anguish. A few more seconds and I realized the worst. It was _my_ child._

_As calmly as I could, I told Astrid to distract the crowd for a while as I looked for my child. Logic told me that it would have been wiser to stay and send Astrid to the source of the crying but if something was happening to my little girl, I wanted to be there. It was my job to protect her._

_I was a little relieved when I realized that the cry had come from out in the open. My girl wasn't being attacked as Astrid had been. But the relief was fleeting when I finally found her. It had definitely been her that cried out. She was sitting down in mud, wailing and holding her knee. A gaggle of little girls stood around her, laughing and making fun of her wild red hair. A particularly large girl, I noticed, had mud on her hands. She had pushed my daughter into the mud._

_I felt a hot surge of anger but forced myself to stay calm. I had to set an example to Kara. I couldn't lose my head. And these girls weren't large, hulking young men; I was a lot bigger than they were._

"_What do you think you're doing?" I called over to them, marching over, my face flushed but my voice steady._

_The large girl who had pushed my daughter into the mud looked particularly nervous._

"_We were just messing around." said a slightly smaller girl. "Honest, we didn't mean any harm."_

_I wanted so badly to shout at that moment but I forced myself to stay serene. "Well you did harm. Get out of here, get away from my daughter. And your parents will definitely hear about this."_

_I had long ago learned that a guilty conscience led to a confession. Telling those girls that their parents would hear about this incident, even though I didn't even know their parents, would likely lead to them confessing their wrongdoing in the mistaken belief that their parents already knew. And that was punishment enough._

_When the girls scattered, I turned to Kara. Her face was streaked with a mixture of mud and tears. Blood oozed from her scraped knee. I got down on my knees, knowing full well that my pants would be covered in mud and that it would take an awfully long time to clean out. I didn't care, just so long as my daughter was okay._

"_Let me see your knee." I said softly._

_She shook her head, her ears turning as red as her hair. But I knew my daughter a little better than that. I reached out my hand and gently lifted hers from her knee. The scrape wasn't deep. I was more worried about the mud mixed into it._

"_Hey… I think you're going to be okay." I smiled a little and touched her nose with the tip of my finger. "How about I carry you to the doctor?"_

_Kara paused, staring into my eyes, and then nodded. I grinned now and picked her up. She was so tiny, as I had been at her age. I kissed her forehead._

"_Daddy?" she said a few minutes later as I gently carried her up a hill. "I wish I were bigger." She scrunched up her face in anger. "Then I could have hit those girls back."_

_I stopped for a moment, looking at my angry little girl and formulating the best response as fast as I could. Being a dad meant having to think on my feet. And I had to be extra careful because I only had one foot left._

"_Kara, are you glad those girls pushed you into the mud and made fun of you?" I asked her with a straight face._

_Kara shook her head. "No…" she said, clearly confused._

"_Well then why would you want to do that to one of them and make her feel bad like you did?"_

_Kara paused, the gears in her head clearly turning. "Because they're mean! They deserve it."_

"_But Kara," I said, looking straight into her eyes. "If you did that, you'd be mean too. Is that what you want?"_

_Kara looked conflicted. "But the mean girls can do anything they want."_

"_Hey," I continued to bore into her eyes, which I suspected was making her a little uncomfortable. "am I mean?"_

_Kara's eyes widened and she shook her head "No!"_

"_Do you want me to be mean?"_

"_No…"_

"_Then isn't it better not to be mean?"_

_Kara frowned for a bit, processing this. "Yes." she finally agreed. "I'm sorry I said that."_

_I touched her nose again. "Don't be. We all wish we could be big and mean sometimes. Even me."_

"_You?" Kara looked surprised._

"_Of course. I was little when I was your age too. And even your mom picked on me. And sometimes I wished I could just…hit her back."_

"_But you _never_ hit her back."_

"_Exactly. Kara, I want you to understand that being mean is easy, especially when you're big. But being good and nice is better because it's a lot harder." I told her. "I'd rather have a nice little girl than a mean one. And you _are_ a nice little girl."_

_Kara smiled at me. Disaster averted. I arrived at the doctor's house a little later._

"_She's going to need this salve to get the mud out of her knee. And then we're going to have to bandage it." said the doctor, getting out a cloth and rubbing a sort of paste into it. He turned to me and spoke in a low voice so Kara couldn't hear. "It's going to sting too. You're going to have to hold her still."_

_I considered this for a moment and then shook my head. "Let me take care of it."_

_The doctor nodded and went to tend to Snotlout, whose dragon had given him a very bad burn. Not that _that_ was a surprise in the slightest._

_I took the cloth and walked over to my daughter, who looked a little nervous. "All right, Kara. I've got to put this on your knee to clean it. But while I do, want to hear about how your mom met Toothless?"_

_Kara nodded, looking excited. As I dabbed at her wound, I told her the story. I told her how I had been hiding Toothless from the other Vikings. How I had been chosen to kill a dragon instead of Astrid and how she had been furious at her defeat. How I had sneaked over to Toothless, intending to pack up and leave Berk rather than be caught with a dragon. How Astrid had caught me before I left and very nearly gave me a heart attack in the process. Kara listened, completely enthralled and not even noticing the stinging of her knee as I rubbed the salve into it._

_When I got to the part about our first ride, how Toothless had nearly killed us both, Kara let out a shriek of unrestrained laughter. The laughter echoed in the empty room, as though ten Karas were laughing at once. How I loved that sound._

"_I'm glad you find the fact that you almost weren't born thanks to a delinquent reptile this funny." I deadpanned but this only made her laugh harder._

_As I wrapped up the story with her mother punching me and then kissing me for the first time, Kara's laughter had died down a bit but the tears of anguish that had been on her face were replaced with tears of mirth. I allowed myself to laugh openly with her, not having a care in the world. When I finished bandaging her knee, I lifted her off the chair and gave her a hug._

"_Feeling better?" I asked, closing my eyes, savoring this moment._

"_Yes." Kara kissed me on the cheek. "I love you, daddy."_

I woke with a start, Kara's words still echoing in my head. It had been so long since I had heard them from her. The memory swimming through my dreams had been so wonderful but now… now it felt so bittersweet.

I became acutely aware that it must have been a few hours later. The sun was high in the sky. I felt the early onset of a headache and wished I had a few blocks of ice on hand. But no such luck.

When I went downstairs, I found Kara (ten years older than she had been in the dream, of course) sitting, staring at the window. I stopped for a moment and took a good look at her. It had been so long since I had been able to look at her, what with her avoiding me thanks to my insistence on teaching her dragon training.

She had my nose. That was the first thing I observed. It was smaller, of course, but it turned up exactly the way mine did. I felt my nose just to be sure. And while her eyes were the same size and shape as her mother's had been at that age, they were the exact same color as mine. As I looked at those eyes, not facing me, of course, I began to feel uncomfortably aware of how deep those eyes were. I felt as though I could get lost in them… they really were the windows to her soul. Perhaps that's why Astrid loved to stare into my eyes so much. If mine had the same effect, it made perfect sense. As I continued to look, I realized she had Astrid's mouth and even my dad's ears (thankfully smaller than his). But the thing I noticed the most was that she had my mother's build. My mother had been small, which is why I was small, but she had a few features that I'd never seen on another person. She had abnormally small hands, I remembered this because they had been gentle and I had loved the feeling I got when she stroked my hair. Kara's hands and fingers were exactly like hers. My mother and Kara had the same dimples on their elbows and knees. As Kara was growing up, she was beginning to look more and more like my mother, like Astrid… like me…

"Kara…" I said softly, not wanting to startle her.

She looked over at me but did not get up. I supposed that she was finished avoiding me.

"I want to see Madguts now." she said, her voice restrained, I noticed.

At the moment, I didn't feel like fighting it anymore. I nodded. "I'd like to come with you though." I added.

Kara didn't object. I wondered what she had been thinking about, whether she had realized how foolish she had been or if she simply didn't want to argue with me. But I figured any victory was better than none.

Kara and I walked together in silence. I felt awkward, unable to figure out what to say to my daughter, but she seemed to prefer the silence. When we arrived at the doctor's house, we paused before walking in.

"I'm still not okay with this." I told her, avoiding her gaze.

"I know." she replied.

My first mistake was letting Kara go in ahead of me. My second mistake was not knocking first. Before I walked in, I heard my daughter let out a gasp of horror.

"What the _Hel_ are you doing?" she shrieked, sounding angrier than I'd ever heard.

I walked in behind her and my mouth dropped open. Camicazi and Madguts were lying in his bed, arms wrapped around each other. Camicazi looked humiliated and shocked, Madguts, however, smiled.

"Kara… come on." He said, his smile widening. "I almost died. And what we had… it was just a bit of fun. You knew that."

Kara clearly did _not _know that. She reached forward and slapped Madguts across the face. Then, before I could stop her, she turned around and bolted from the room. Trembling with rage, I turned to Madguts, whose infuriating smile remained on his face.

"Obviously I was right about you." I said, keeping my voice steady.

"Hey," said Madguts. "You got what you wanted."

If I weren't about to become chief, if I didn't have an example to set for the rest of the village, I would have broken his nose.


	10. Chapter 9: Foolhardy Mistakes

**Chapter Nine: Foolhardy Mistakes (Kara)**

_September 25th  
_

Today was raining and sleeting and doing Odin knows what else so I decided to come inside, curl up by the fire Toothless set (thanks, bud) and write some more. I think I left off when I found Madguts sticking his tongue down Camicazi's throat. Isn't he wonderful? Not a sleaze at all, certainly not.

All right, you're probably saying, that's enough sarcasm. But it's very true. I can't believe I actually found Madguts hot enough to throw my life away for him. And I was angry for a long time over what happened that day. Now I thank Thor it ended then. I wouldn't have had any of the adventures I've had over the years if I'd kept him. I'd probably be miserable and resentful and who knows what else.

When I ran back to the house, my mom wasn't there. No doubt she was trying to restore peace to Berk after a harrowing day. This was good, I reasoned, I could be alone. Almost alone. Teggie greeted me at the door, apparently finally forgiving me for my earlier stupidity. I brushed him aside; I couldn't bring myself to care about how he felt in that moment. Toothless came up to me and made a sort of gurgling sound. I put my hand on him, stroking his face absentmindedly when suddenly I had an idea. A wild, crazy, _stupid _idea. My dad had been right, no doubt about that, but I could still make him mad. I could still prove myself to him...

I hesitated for a moment, contemplating my next move. On the one hand, I could just flee to Mildew's old house and freak my parents out while they searched all of Berk and still wouldn't be able to find me. Mildew's house had been my secret hideaway for years. Apparently Mildew had been this awful old man who hated dragons. This helped me a lot because everyone else avoided his house so it really was the perfect place to go to be alone. One time, when I was three, I wandered into it and played for hours before going back to the main area of Berk and taking a nap in the food shelter. My parents freaked out about that. On the other hand, I had a perfectly good dragon right in front of me. A comment my dad made about me not being able to leave because I couldn't fly on a dragon was going through my mind, adding to my anger. I grabbed my bow and several arrows and strapped them to myself. I didn't want to take any chances.

In a moment, I had the courage to do what I wanted to do. As terrifying as it was, I felt reckless. I felt like I could take on anything dangerous. I took a flying leap and landed awkwardly on Toothless. Before he had time to react, I was all strapped in. Thankfully, my dad had taught me all about how to strap onto Toothless and it was a skill that I had retained, however reluctantly.

Toothless was less than amused. He began attempting to buck me off. I suppose throwing up while riding him had somehow made him a lot more apprehensive about letting me on him again. But I didn't care, I had to get out and I knew Toothless' quirks well enough that I could easily fly on his back even if he didn't want me to. As I predicted, he scuttled out of the house so I wouldn't be crushed up against the ceiling (and so he wouldn't break anything). I used this to my advantage and held on tighter. Next, he hovered over the ground, hoping, perhaps, that I would wimp out and jump off. I did no such thing. His final attempt to get me off of him was to suddenly fly upward to scare me and then attempt to fly back down. But once we were in the air, I manipulated his tail and we shot forward like an arrow.

I still couldn't quite enjoy the ride but I was just beginning to understand why my parents loved flying so much. The other times I had flown had been more or less against my will so now that it was my idea, I looked around, taking in every moment. Berk did look magnificent beneath me. I even saw Stormfly down there headed toward my parents' rapidly shrinking house. I hoped my mom hadn't seen me take off. Well… maybe she would assume I was my dad and think nothing of it. I had to get away fast, though. As fast as I could, in fact. I knew that even though I was on the fastest dragon on Berk, I was also not experienced. My left foot felt constricted because it was definitely too big for the pedal. My dad had created an attachment for people who actually had a left foot. Why didn't I use that?

Toothless eventually figured out that I wasn't going to vomit and calmed down considerably. He seemed to think this was a nice ride and that I would fly back to Berk in an hour or so. I had no intention of doing that. This time I was going to run away, somewhere no one would ever find me. Then maybe, if I felt like it, I would go home.

Toothless and I flew over the sea for about an hour. I could tell he was starting to get tired when the flapping of his wings stopped being magnificent gestures and starting being exhausted reflexes. I looked down and spotted another village. Perfect, I thought, we could rest here. It was dusk and I myself was beginning to get tired after such a long day. Despite my earlier heartbreak, I couldn't bring myself to cry or feel any emotion at all. I just had adrenaline and the mad urge to do something impulsive.

The best part of my plan, I thought as I finally slid off Toothless (in perfect form), was that it would take an awfully long time for my parents to realize what happened. The last thing they would expect would be me flying away. Only though being unable to locate Toothless would they learn the truth. I felt a stab of guilt about Teggie but overcame it. He'd forgive me…

A new territory, almost forbidden, stretched around me. I had to admit, I didn't like the look of it. Where Berk had lush fields and deep forests, everything here looked dank and misty. There was a fog that seemed to always be there, making me very uneasy. Where was I?

"Come on, bud." I said, using my dad's favorite nickname for Toothless, hoping that it would calm him down.

I motioned for Toothless to follow me and he did, however reluctantly. He knew that the only way for him to get off this village was me or my dad (if my dad actually showed up). My use of his nickname seemed to cheer him up a little but it didn't last. Pretty soon he was glaring at me for taking him so far away and I didn't have a good enough response to keep him from doing so.

We walked for a long time, I'm not sure how long, until we finally reached the village. It was covered in metallic buildings that made me wonder which were communal and which were residential. I wondered what they did in the event of a thunderstorm with lots of lightning. Then I wondered if they even got them. The area seemed to always be gloomy and grim. I didn't like it one bit but maybe it was just an off-day. Maybe it wasn't as bad as all that.

What I should have been wondering was where all the people had gone. There was no one there, almost as though this was a ghost town, except I saw evidence that this village was being used. There were new looking weapons outside of the forge. Several houses had clothes hanging out to dry. It didn't occur to me to be frightened by this. Though what I was thinking I'm not sure. Maybe I assumed that everyone had decided to take a trip to the other end of the island. I searched the sky but no one was flying on a dragon above me. It was oddly peaceful in the way that Mildew's old house was peaceful. Sure it looked creepy but the solitude was an odd comfort to me. I didn't want to go into the village because I didn't want the inhabitants to find me right away. So I crept over into a nearby cave and took off the furry cloak I liked to wear, placing it on the ground below me. The events of the day, plus the long flight with Toothless, had worn me out. I decided to curl up on the cloak and succumb to my tiredness.

"Who's that?" said a gruff and unfamiliar voice.

I stirred slightly, still so tired I wasn't sure whether I was dreaming this voice.

"'Ang on, I fink I know." said a different voice, just as gruff as the first. "I've seen that mop of 'air before on Berk. And if I'm right, we've got the perfect prisoner."

Before I could move, I felt strong, rough hands grab me and use my own cloak to restrict my movements. Still very drowsy, I tried to struggle against my bonds but I was unable to do so. I opened my eyes and faced my captors.

The leader had dark, coarse hair with flecks of gray in it. He was an older man, roughly my grandfather's age, but he still looked like he could easily snap me in two. I looked around for Toothless but he wasn't there. Perhaps they didn't know he had brought me. Perhaps I could make up a good lie and then they would never know. The leader, along with some of the other men who restrained me, began to laugh.

"You're the 'Addock girl." It wasn't a question. "I've got 'Iccup's little brat."

I was now awake enough to feel a small stab of fear. Though not as much as I perhaps should have. Maybe my earlier rebellion had knocked most of it out of me.

"Don't know what you're talking about." I stammered. "I just sailed here for a bit of rest on my way to…"

"Don't play stupid!" shouted the man, his eyes narrowing at me. "We used to call your father the Dragon Conqueror and if you're 'is kid, you could only have gotten 'ere one way. Where's your dragon?" he pointed a sword at my neck.

Knowing that Toothless was my leverage and that he wouldn't dare kill me when he could use me as a hostage, I repeated my story. I'm surprised at how levelheaded I was in that moment. Maybe I was still drowsy from my nap.

My earlier assumptions were correct. The man withdrew his sword, looking disgusted.

"Put 'er in a cell. She's no use to us. It's the 'Addock boy we want." He said, looking murderous.

As they carried me off, I couldn't help but wonder why he had referred to my father as 'boy.' He had recently turned 41; he was far from being a boy. _Madguts _was a boy. And then I realized… Madguts, 15-year-old Madguts was a boy. And this was an older man, my grandfather's age… had he known my father when my father was a boy?

And then it hit me. The identity of my captor. The place I had landed. I was in a lot more trouble than I had originally thought.

When they arrived at the prison cell, I was thrown in, thankfully with my cloak. I supposed that if they wanted my father's cooperation, they would have to keep me reasonably comfortable.

Alvin the Treacherous glared at me through the bars. "You go ahead and go back to sleep." he taunted, a smile playing at the edges of his mouth. "Your daddy will be lookin' for ye. I can't wait to see him after all these years."

His laughter echoed off the walls of the prison and rang in my ears.

* * *

_I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I hit a good stopping point and realized that the events following would be a lot more exciting if you knew what Hiccup was up to while that was going on. It's funny, soon as this story's rating went to T, I suddenly got a lot more reviews and favorites. I'll have to keep that in mind. As always, be sure to review and I'll have Chapter 10 out as soon as I can._


	11. Chapter 10: Loss

_Before reading this, you should probably know that this was the hardest chapter to write so far. I had trouble finding inspiration and I'm still not very pleased with it. That being said, I did take the coward's way out in one way so I apologize. The next chapter is very exciting so hopefully my work will be its usual awesomeness then. Enjoy!  
_

_Also, it has been pointed out to me that there is a character matching Kara's description (named Kara) in a movie called Dragonheart. As much as I'd like to say that was me being sly and crediting the film, it's a very funny coincidence. That being said, the actress who plays the part does kind of look like an older Kara so I think it's pretty funny._

**Chapter Ten: Loss (Hiccup)**

It had been so much easier when Kara was little. When she was six, I wouldn't have to explain why boys did the things they did. Then again, when she was six, boys were disgusting creatures and fathers were there to be respected. Now it seemed to be the opposite. To tell you the truth, I simply had no clue how to proceed. I knew Kara wasn't going to seek me out for a heart-to-heart. She was probably embarrassed. And even if she did, what was I supposed to say? Did I need to say anything? It was moments like that which made me miss my mother. Astrid wouldn't know how to proceed in times like this and the idea of asking Ruffnut was laughable. Heather and I had our issues, mostly with her marrying Snotlout, and Melva… I didn't really know Melva at all. Tuffnut had married her after only knowing her a month. At that time, Astrid and I were trying to have a child and, we realized much later, had been shutting everyone out as a result.

It was inevitable. I would have to find Kara and have a nice conversation with her about boys and how dumb they are at that age, especially concerning girls. I remembered with slight amusement how stupid I had been when I first met Heather and how that had almost cost us the Dragon Book. I had long since learned that trust was something you earned, not something you gave out like Yak-nog (thankfully Astrid had improved the recipe since her disastrous first attempt. Now it tolerable). I couldn't be too hard on Kara, she had inherited her foolhardy tendency to trust everyone she met from me and that was what essentially got her into this mess.

I sauntered home, thinking vaguely that maybe I would cook up some fish for dinner if Astrid hadn't gotten to it yet. I remembered the arguments we used to have about cooking meals because neither of us really knew what we were doing. Toothless and Stormfly had been horrified with the amount of fish we burned in the process. Almost like a reflex, I felt myself grin at that memory. We had been so young then.

I arrived at my house twenty minutes later. As I walked in, I had the ineffable feeling that something was horribly wrong. Toothless and Teggie didn't come up to greet me. Teggie had taken a liking to me (while avoiding Astrid as much as possible) and it had been a comical race between him and Toothless to greet me first if I arrived home after a few dragon-free hours. But it was more than the dragons not greeting me that made me feel apprehensive about everything at home.

"About time you showed up, where have you been, young lady?" came Astrid's voice from the other room.

In any other circumstance, I would have found this funny. Now I grimaced a bit. So Kara wasn't back either. I had been expecting that but I had hoped I was wrong.

"Kara's not back?" I called over as Astrid bustled to me, looking as though she was about to swat me, or, rather, who she thought was her wayward daughter.

Astrid straightened up, looking confused. "That was a short flight." she said, raising an eyebrow. "Something wrong with Toothless?"

Bewildered, I shook my head. "I haven't been flying. Not since we saved Madguts."

Astrid looked completely confused for a second and then horrified. "Someone stole your dragon!" she exclaimed, running outside at top speed.

"That's impossible!" I called after her, turning to follow her. "I haven't taught anyone how to fly him except Kara and she…" I stopped dead in my tracks.

Astrid turned around, looking almost frightening. "She _what_, Hiccup?"

My eyes widened. "She wouldn't!"

"But she _could_, right?" Astrid narrowed her eyes at me.

I hesitated for a moment and then nodded. Astrid and I stared at each other in silence for a long time, probably a few seconds but it didn't feel that way.

Astrid, looking livid, was the first to break the silence. "Get… Stormfly." she said through gritted teeth.

The last thing I wanted to do was ride on a dragon owned by my angry wife. I felt like the likelihood of being impaled by one of Stormfly's spikes was going to become a reality very soon. However, I knew it was best for me to obey this time. I was good at figuring out which fights to pick and which to avoid.

Stormfly was, fortunately, snoozing in the back of the house. When I stroked her head, she woke up, thankfully without any violence. I didn't think being impaled would help me in my search. I led her back to Astrid, who was so angry she was shaking.

We took off. I had ridden Stormfly with Astrid more times than I could count. This time, however, my wife wanted my head for my stupidity. And, all things considered, I couldn't blame her. But I sort of wanted to keep my head so I didn't say anything as we flew over Berk, scanning the crowds looking for our daughter. It was getting dark and I feared we wouldn't find her. The worst thing about it was that Toothless was a _Night Fury, _which meant he was almost impossible to spot at night. We landed a few minutes later.

"She's gone, Hiccup." Astrid said as she dismounted. "Now we're going to have to go rescue her."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well don't look so disappointed, it's not as though we haven't rescued anyone before. I'm sure she's fine." I wasn't convinced but I knew my daughter was headstrong and I had a gut feeling that she would be okay.

"You don't get it, do you?" Astrid punched me in the arm. "Not only do we have to fly around Odin-knows-where looking for Kara, we have to find your dragon before she figures out how to out-fly us."

This was a possibility I had considered but didn't think would become a reality. Kara had no interest in flying. At least, that's what she made clear. I felt like I didn't know my own child.

My first instinct was to grab Ruffnut and Fishlegs and make them fly all night. But if Kara was in any trouble, I'd need more people. My dad was too old to take on this kind of mission and I knew Gobber would slow us down. It was time to get the old gang back together.

* * *

"This doesn't mean we're friends!" Snotlout called from Hookfang as we took off. "I'm just doing this because… because I want to!"

I rolled my eyes. I'd heard that a thousand times. It seemed every time Snotlout did something for me, he had to remind me that this _didn't _make us friends. Of course, I still refused to call him my archenemy.

"Thank you, Snotlout, your enthusiasm for the mission is touching." I said irritably. "When we find Kara, we can all go home."

"Hiccup…" Fishlegs called from Meatlug. He flew up close to me. "I'm sorry about Madguts. I didn't think he was going to… to…"

"To break my daughter, my only child, so badly that she runs off and might get herself killed?" I couldn't help but feel bitterness toward my old friend. "No, I guess you couldn't have predicted that. But you could have raised your son better."

Fishlegs didn't seem to have a response to this and fell back, looking distraught. I felt a prick of pity for him but immediately buried it. Sure, it had probably been Ruffnut's influence that caused Madguts to be such a jerk but if Fishlegs had just stepped in and done something, I wouldn't be out here, wondering if my daughter was okay or even still alive. If I lost my dragon too… I didn't know what I was going to do.

It was about then that the fear set in. What if we didn't find her? What if we didn't find Toothless? What if they were lost and alone somewhere far away and I couldn't save them? My heart began to race. The thought of losing two of the people I loved best began to overtake me. I hugged Astrid as though claiming her as my own. I could account for her but putting through the heartbreak of losing our baby… we had already buried one child…

* * *

_It was the middle of the afternoon. Since that day, I never could look up at the sun high in the sky without remembering what I saw… what I lost._

_I was drenched in sweat but still digging, breaking the earth with my shovel. Hoping that the deeper I dug, the easier it would be to forget. Instead I felt as though I was digging in my mind. Gouging out parts of my heart. _

"_Hiccup…"_

_My wife carried a bundle in her arms, a tiny bundle. Too small, I thought. So unfair. He didn't have a chance. She trembled as she reached me, her eyes full of angry tears. I placed an arm on her shoulder._

"_Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, looking into her eyes, hoping that my presence would be sufficient to take away a little bit of the pain._

_A tear slid down her face and she nodded. "I need to do this." She said shakily._

_She was so beautiful in that moment, even in anguish. A sort of tragic beauty. There was a glimmer of longing in her blue eyes that has faded over time but never gone away. As though she half expected the bundle to stir, to cry. To live._

_We dropped to our knees next to the hole I had dug. It was too deep for such a small bundle but I didn't care. As long as he wouldn't be disturbed._

"_Do you want me to..." I began to ask her but she shook her head._

"_I will."_

_She placed the bundle in the hole. We sat for a few moments, staring at the bundle, what we had lost. I heard a sob and, almost instinctively, placed my arms around her shoulders. She fell on me as though suddenly paralyzed by grief and the tears flowed openly. Trying to hold back tears of my own, I held my sobbing wife tightly. I kissed her on the top of her head and she squeezed my hand as though thanking me._

_I don't know how long we sat there. No one came to disturb us so it could have been hours. I stroked her hair as she wept until she had no tears left. A few of my own tears trickled into her hair but she didn't seem to notice._

"_It's not fair." She whispered at last. "It's not fair…"_

_I kissed her again. "I know." I said. "He didn't have a chance."_

"_I can't do this again." She shook her head. "I can't lose someone else. To feel him moving and then… I can't."_

_Had it been only yesterday that I had felt his movements? I had been so happy then. Now I could only feel pain. Agony for my son. The son I would never know._

"_It's not going to happen again." I told her, fighting the creeping feeling I had that there was no way I could protect her from this._

_We stayed seated, staring at what was left of our beloved son, for hours. In a sense, we're still there. The pain never ends._

* * *

"What is _that?_" asked Astrid, snapping me out of my reverie.

I looked up and noticed her pointing to a dragon flying very pointedly at us. As though on a mission. That _was _unusual. Dragon's weren't exactly known for their subtlety but it was almost as though this dragon was challenging Stormfly. I was relieved after a moment to figure out that it was only a Terrible Terror, a dragon too small to do any real danger, but was still surprised when he flew directly to me and landed on my shoulder.

* * *

_To those who read this chapter last night, you may have noticed that the ending changed. That's because I got to work on Chapter 11 after this and realized a bit of a plot hole that I have now fixed.  
_


	12. Chapter 11: Definitely Not Helpless

_Yes, this chapter is short. It sets up the climax of the story, which is where things get interesting. Yes, we are winding down this tale, it is nearly over. So I guess it's a good time to tell you that there will be a SEQUEL! Its working title is Pirate's Cove. Expect it pretty soon after I finish this one. And there will also be some one-shots of Hiccup, Astrid, and Kara's adventures that didn't make it into this story, sort of like the flashbacks. Let me know what else you want to read.  
_

_NOTE: I changed the end of the previous chapter to cover up a plot hole. If you haven't already, be sure to read it.  
_

**Chapter Eleven: Definitely Not Helpless**

_September 26th  
_

Most of the time, I marvel at my own stupidity. That day I marveled at my own brilliance. While it was abject stupidity that got me into this mess, it was a clever strategy that got me out.

As I sat in the cell, robbed of my bow and arrows, I felt helpless. My only hope was Toothless but I thought it would be awfully lucky if he actually managed to find me. My mind was racing. Rather than panic, I was seized with a very strange sense of calmness. It was as though my brain knew that it could focus better when I wasn't panicking. I began to think. Coming up with possibilities is a strength of mine so I drew on that strength.

I took out everything I was carrying. A stick of charcoal and a small scrap of paper from my lost journal. A small vial of Fireworm's acid. Random strips of cloth. Half a loaf of bread. The broken tip of an ordinary arrow. A small bit of string I had been planning to use to attempt to tie my hair back.

A Terrible Terror scuttled in from the back of the cell. Startled, I turned around.

"Hey, little guy." I said, smiling softly.

The small dragon nestled against my hand almost eagerly. His facial structure led me to guess this one was male. When it came to dragons, females were a little smarter but males a little faster and better at fighting. The discrepancy wasn't large and hardly worth noting but it would take a very clever little dragon to execute my hastily conjured plan.

I grabbed the charcoal and paper. Time was of the essence so I had to make this quick:

_Trapped on Outcast Island. Send help. Kara_

It wasn't a work of art but it was the best I could do. I rolled up the paper and used the string to tie it to the Terrible Terror's leg. He looked up at me, slightly confused.

"I need you to give someone this message. Look for someone riding a dragon, okay?" I hoped my instructions were clear enough.

I gave him a piece of the bread and sent him on his way. Well, now I had a chance of getting some outside help. But I had no guarantee that the little dragon wouldn't be intercepted so I had to think of something else. Think, Kara, _think_.

A moment later, the plan came to me. It was risky and I would have to be very lucky but I was willing to take the risk.

I should explain first that my acid arrows had to be coated with iron. The acid didn't corrode iron. When I tried coating copper, it melted away. So if I was very lucky, the cell's bars would contain copper, not iron.

I inspected the bars. Their color led me to believe that they were made of iron. But I had to try. I wasn't going to sit there and wait forever. I took out the vial of acid and dripped it into the keyhole of the lock. I heard a slight hissing noise.

I was very, very lucky. The lock was a mixture of iron and copper, so my acid corroded away at it little by little. I used the tip of the arrow to open it and the cell swung open. Marveling at my good fortune, I cautiously walked out. There was no one guarding my cell. Being a girl, I suppose they didn't think it was necessary. I thanked the gods for that because it wouldn't be the first time I was overlooked for being female only to do something brilliant that surprised the male chauvinist types.

I crept out of the room and flattened my body against the wall, allowing myself only to look at a small sliver of the next room. Two guards stood there, their backs to me. And leaning against the wall were my bow and arrows. If I could just get to them…

I turned my head back so they wouldn't see me as I thought about how to get my only weapons to escape. I had brought numerous acid arrows and cotton-coated ones to burn. All I needed was Toothless to ignite those. And, as far as I could tell, Toothless still hadn't been found. I still had some acid left, not as much as I wanted, but enough to do some damage. I decided to use it.

I bolted forward, vial outstretched, ready to splash the men with the acid if they advanced. Both did (and they were a lot bigger than me) so I threw the vial at them, not really looking at where I was going. The acid splashed onto one of the guards' arms and he let out a howl of pain. The other guard faltered, looking over at his companion, which gave me just the right amount of time to snatch the bag with my bow and arrows and arm myself. By the time they looked up, I had an arrow pointed in their direction, glowing slightly green in the torchlight.

"This arrow is covered in acid." I said, looking carefully for any sudden movements. "Let me go or you'll have your insides burned out."

This threat made both guards look very uneasy. The one who had not been splashed narrowed his eyes at me.

"You're bluffing." He said, though he didn't sound sure.

"Maybe." I said, thinking that mind games couldn't hurt. "But do you really want to take that chance?"

As it turned out, neither one of them wanted to risk being burned by the acid covered arrows. Thanking the gods for my brilliant invention, I backed out of the prison, keeping my arrows pointed directly at the guards. If one of them tried to follow me, I'd shoot one right at his throat.

Now I just had to be stealthy. I suspected that prisoners on Outcast Island were executed soon after being captured because I saw no one else in there, thus there were no need for guards on the outside. I knew my hair was a dead giveaway. I had a cloak but I was unsure about whether or not I could blend in. I would have to do something drastic.

That's when I did something very clever yet also very difficult. I loved my hair, you see, it was wild but it was a distinguishing feature. However, this distinguishing feature would get me caught in seconds. It had to go. I took out an acid covered arrow and used it to burn and cut away at my long hair. I left it just over my shoulders, making it possible to place the cloak over my head. I left the hair behind the prison (which is where I had cut it) so it wouldn't be immediately noticed. Knowing I had only a few minutes before the guards told someone I was gone, I crept away. In the dark, I would be mistaken for a resident of this bleak village and this suited me just fine.

To my amazement, I escaped unharmed. Now I just needed to get far enough away to be able to call Toothless. My dad had taught me how to call a Night Fury but it was far too loud and would be a dead giveaway.

As I crept through the wood, feeling lighter than ever before without my hair, the panic began to set in. What if I didn't find Toothless in time? What if I ran into one of the other Outcasts?

I forced myself to think of more pleasant things, like getting off this island on my dad's dragon (he would _kill _me but at least it would save the Outcasts the trouble).

A twig snapped. I turned around and heard people approaching. I looked around, having a small panic attack, until I looked up. The tree I was standing next to was sturdy. As long as they didn't look up, I'd never be noticed. I climbed the tree, feeling as though my muscles were screaming in agony. I made a mental note to do more exercising if I survived to get back home.

"…what he's on about. I don't see what we have to gain by keeping her." said one of the gruff men below.

His companion smacked him rather hard.

"You idiot! If we 'ave 'er, we'll _own _the Dragon Conqueror. 'e'll do anything we say. 'e'll be in the palm of our 'ands. And if 'e's desperate enough, 'e might give 'is life for 'er's." Said the other man, laughing. "We could take over Berk if we wanted."

"Oh…" the first man stopped to think about this. "I didn't know Alvin was out to take over the world."

"You Berserkers are so narrow-minded. I don't know why 'e puts up with you!" said the other man. "But she's 'ere somewhere and I want the reward. Now shut up and stop slowing us down."

As the men walked away, I smiled to myself. I had uncovered some very valuable information. So the Berserkers and the Outcasts had teamed up, had they? I made a mental note to tell my dad about this if I saw him again. I hated all these uncertainties.

That's when I realized I did something stupid. Climbing up a tree is all fine and good. Climbing down takes a lot more effort and as tired as I was from not sleeping very well earlier, I wasn't sure I could do it. I climbed down the tree as carefully as I could but, of course, I miscalculated something and found myself falling very fast. Before I had time to react, I hit the ground and blacked out.

* * *

I came to what must have been only twenty minutes later. I heard a gurgling noise up ahead. When I opened my eyes, there was Toothless, looking concerned, inches from my face, his gigantic green eyes taking up most of my vision.

I squealed in surprise and stood up. Toothless made a sort of exasperated noise.

"There you are." I whispered to him. "Let's go now."

I mounted him but just as I was about to take off, I saw something in the distant village explode. Smoke was pouring out of a building that was obviously destroyed now. I wanted to go back to see what it was but I wasn't sure that was such a good idea. Still, I had a dragon that blended in with the night sky so I decided to check it out.

"Let's go, bud." I said and we took off.

It was a bit of a relief to be free again. I swooped over to the village and was greeted with a nasty shock. It was crowded; dragons and Vikings alike were having what looked like a pretty messy battle. I very nearly flew away when I recognized one of the dragons. It was tied up and its blonde owner was being physically restrained by several of the men. Her male companion, a russet haired man, was also being restrained.

It was at that moment, my instincts kicked in.


	13. Chapter 12: The Battle in the Sky

_Here it is! The final chapter! There will be an epilogue as well.  
_

**Chapter Twelve: The Battle in the Sky (Hiccup)**

My daughter is a genius.

As I sat there on Stormfly, looking at the Terrible Terror on my shoulder, I was completely bewildered. Terrible Terrors were some of the more mischievous dragons and difficult to train. Their instincts seemed to be to avoid the larger dragons because they were, well, larger. Kind of like my natural instinct to avoid Snotlout. But when he stuck out his foot and revealed the note tied to it, I thought that whoever devised this method of communication was brilliant.

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered the brilliant person who had used this Terrible Terror as a messenger was my own flesh and blood. All these years of being at peace with dragons and the Terrible Terrors hardly had a role to play. And it was _my daughter_ who worked this out. I wasn't sure whether to feel stupid for not coming up with this or proud of Kara. I decided I was both. And also nervous because I knew that if Kara was on Outcast Island, it was up to my old friends and me to save her. As I looked over at the twins taking turns hitting each other on the face, I sighed. If I'd known Kara was in this much trouble, I would have brought a larger entourage.

I wasn't worried about Toothless. He could hold his own against angry Vikings. And if my suspicions were correct, he was also good at hiding when he was outnumbered. If Kara had to resort to using a Terrible Terror to get her message across, I knew she was separated from him. Good, I thought, as long as Toothless was okay. And we were getting nearer to Outcast Island all the time so I knew we would be able to step in and help.

I knew the Outcasts had dragons now so this operation would probably be search and rescue, not attack and conquer (as though we actually wanted Outcast Island to begin with).

"All right, guys, here's the plan." I called to my friends from Stormfly. "We fly over the island, look for Kara, and only land if we can't find her. Then we _quietly_ look until we find her."

"We do we gotta be quiet?" asked Tuffnut.

I rolled my eyes. He would ask that.

"Because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves and start a war. We're just here to get Kara." I said, bracing myself against the question I knew would come from Ruffnut.

Sure enough. "Why can't we start a war?"

"Because we're outnumbered!" Astrid snapped. "Now shut up!"

Surprisingly enough, Ruffnut and Tuffnut did shut up.

"I don't see why I had to come." grumbled Snotlout. "She's not _my_ kid."

Not for the first time, I really wanted to punch Snotlout right there.

"_Your_ kid had a hand in making this mess. Would you rather _she _flew here instead of you?" piped up Astrid (I had filled her in on the way there; she had taken Camicazi's role in this a lot harder than I had).

Snotlout scowled and became quiet, though I suspected he was muttering curses under his breath. That or threats against my life. I couldn't care less.

We descended on Outcast Island with surprising calm. It was late at night so I suspected many of the residents were in bed. Good, it left us time to search. I silently split us up: Snotlout and Tuffnut (with Hookfang) were to search the forest to our left; Fishlegs and Ruffnut (with Barf, Belch, and Meatlug) were to search the forest to our right; Astrid and I were to stay in the village and search the prison. To my immense surprise, all followed the orders without complaint.

We started by walking around the prison. Maybe there was a back entrance. There wasn't one but as Astrid and I walked around the prison again, Stormfly stopped and sniffed at something on the ground.

"What is it, girl?" Astrid whispered, inspecting the source of Stormfly's interest.

A moment later, she held up a large handful of bushy red hair.

"Kara cut her hair." I whispered. "But why?"

"I don't know." Astrid whispered back. "I don't like this, Hiccup. This is weird. I don't think Kara's in the prison."

I nodded. "I don't either but she's not here in the village either. At least… not that I can see. Maybe we should…"

"Aha, knew you'd come for that little brat!" shouted a harsh voice right behind me and before I could react, he grabbed me and held me still.

I struggled against his grip but it was too tight. One of the other Outcasts grabbed Astrid as well. In anger, Stormfly belched fire at the prison, igniting it rather fast. Despite its metallic look, I guessed there was a lot of wood in it, probably rotted out, because it burned very bright very fast. I had a small panic attack. If we were wrong and Kara was in that prison, she would be dead right now. I prayed to the gods that she was far away.

The Outcasts tied Stormfly up as well and restrained us as we tried to free her and get away. For a split second, I could have sworn I saw movement in the sky but it must have been my imagination.

Alvin the Treacherous was out moments later, sneering at me. Next to him was a young man, roughly Kara's age, with a bloodthirsty look is his eye. He was dressed differently. In a moment, I realized who he was.

"Alvin! Camgar! How nice to see you again!" I said sarcastically. "Were the restraints necessary? I only wanted to chat. I didn't know you two had teamed up."

Camgar the Cutthroat leered at me. "So you're the Hiccup my father told me about. He was right; you are a piece of work."

"Thank you." I said calmly, which seemed to infuriate him even more. "I see you've acquired dragons." I noted as I saw several dragons, including a very large Whispering Death, peering at us from behind their owners.

"Yes… we have you to thank for that." said Camgar. "This is Bloodbath." he gestured to his Whispering Death.

"Yes, very scary. I'm guessing he lives up to his name." I said, being careful to look almost bored.

"Quite." said Camgar. "Your daughter is smarter than we anticipated."

I smiled. "That's my girl."

"She won't be able to hide forever. She'll come out as soon as she sees we've got her parents." Camgar grinned.

"Say, where is your dear old dad? I haven't seen him in ages." I looked around, as though expecting Dagur to pop out of nowhere.

"He's… indisposed." Camgar's grin widened. "Now Alvin here and I would like a word with your father."

Where were the others? Did they _not _see the explosion of the prison? If my arms were free, I'd smack myself in the face. The twins were probably marveling at the destruction and, knowing Snotlout, he probably flew off at the first sign of trouble. Which left… Fishlegs. I wasn't sure how I felt about having my life in Fishlegs' hands.

"Ahh, you want to take over Berk? Rule the world? Isn't that a little… ambitious?" Astrid snapped.

"We Berserkers are ambitious. And we can promise the Outcasts all kinds of treasures, rewards…" Camgar stroked Astrid's cheek. "women…"

Astrid made a disgusted face. I felt rage boil in me again. I opened my mouth to retort when a rather odd thing happened. An arrow hit a wooden post inches above his head. There was a hissing noise and the arrow somehow managed to burn through the wood as though a Changewing had splashed its acid on it. I looked up, temporarily distracted, and saw _Toothless_ swoop down as another arrow caught one of the Outcasts restraining me on the shoulder. He roared in pain and loosened his grip just enough for me to get free. In the confusion, no one noticed because a plasma blast shot through the air and landed inches away from Bloodbath.

"On your dragons!" shouted Alvin. "After the Night Fury!"

I stood stock still as Toothless and a rider bathed in shadows baited the dragons, hovering a few feet above them and then shooting into the air at top speed. I couldn't believe my eyes! Who was that rider?

"Astrid, come on, get on Stormfly. We can help him!" I called to my wife, who nodded once and rushed over to her dragon.

We tried to pull at the ropes but they were too tight. Moments later, an acid-arrow landed a few feet away. I looked up and barely saw Toothless and his mysterious rider fly back in the air.

"I wonder…" Astrid said, more to herself than to me, and then grabbed the arrow, using the acid to burn away at the ropes until we could rip them apart.

It took only a few seconds to mount Stormfly and ride up to the clear sky to help Toothless and his rider with the battle. In the corner of my eye, I spotted Snotlout riding Hookfang up to us.

"This is more like it!" he called to us and he shot past us.

Hookfang spat so much fire at the army of Outcasts and Berserkers, they had to scatter. Toothless circled around them so fast he and his rider were a blur and sent a plasma blast at the fleeing dragons. One of the rider's arrows caught fire and he shot it directly at Camgar, who had to do a sort of somersault in midair to avoid it.

Bloodbath shot fire at Toothless and his rider but they were too quick for him. The fire missed them by centimeters but the rider wasted no time in shooting another flaming arrow at them. Before Camgar and Bloodbath could retaliate, a blast of fire from Meatlug impeded them and, cursing, they fell back.

The Outcasts were being stopped by Barf and Belch, who ignited a trail of gas that surrounded them (I suppose the darkness camouflaged the gas but all the same, I was thankful to the twins for that diversion).

Now it was just Camgar and Bloodbath versus Toothless and his rider. Toothless, at this point, came dangerously close to me (enough that Astrid and I had to move Stormfly out of the way just in time) and I saw the rider.

It wasn't a he, it was a she. And it wasn't just any she, it was _Kara_. It was dark so I could barely see her but I could have sworn I saw her wink at us as she passed by.

"Where did she learn to fly like that?" Astrid asked me, eyes wide in shock.

"I have no idea." I replied.

If I were in a different frame of mind, I might have helped her. But Astrid and I sat on Stormfly, frozen in shock, and watching our little girl fight the leader of the Berserkers by doing the very thing she had been fighting against her whole life. Needless to say, it was a lot to take in.

It was as though Kara and Toothless had become one entity. They dodged the blasts of fire from Bloodbath almost tauntingly, as though daring him to come closer. They dive-bombed Camgar and Bloodbath so fast the latter two had to scramble awkwardly out of the way. Kara's aim was impeccable and though she kept missing, I think she merely wanted to threaten them. Arrows containing flames and acid kept coming closer and closer, to the point where one acid arrow burned through Camgar's sleeve. Camgar became increasingly enraged.

Something inside me swelled. It was a feeling I had felt at times all of Kara's life but now nearly exploded out of me. _I was proud of my daughter_. Never in my whole life was I more proud to be Kara's father than that moment as I watched her fight off Camgar singlehandedly. I looked at Astrid and her bright blue eyes were almost glowing. I suspected my eyes were glowing as well, glowing with pride at our daughter.

Camgar, looking murderous, had Bloodbath spew fire at Kara and Toothless again. This time, they were lucky. Toothless' tale fortunately wasn't hit but Kara's cloak burst into flames. For one horrible second, I feared the worst. Kara's reaction was lightning fast as she stripped off the cloak and threw it in their direction.

I maintain to this day that it was an accident. Bloodbath's mouth was still open after he had sent the fire their way. The cloak fell, a burning ball of cloth, into his mouth and down his throat. He burst into flames.

Camgar shouted in rage and one of the other Berserkers, who had just gotten away from the distractions provided by the twins, Snoutlout, Fishlegs, and their dragons, caught him with his dragon and flew him away.

"YOU KILLED MY DRAGON!" Camgar hollered as the other dragon took him away. "I WILL FIND YOU AND I WILL _KILL_ YOU!"

The battle was over. Both dragons and Vikings were on fire at this point and I shouted for the others to fall back and follow Astrid and me. We shot forward, wanting to get as far away from the Outcasts and Berserkers as we could.

* * *

When we were out of the danger zone, I asked Kara if I could join her on Toothless. She obliged and had Toothless fly below us so I could jump onto him from Stormfly. I miscalculated the landing slightly but Kara helped me to regain my balance. We flew in silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry I…" we both said at the same time.

We chucked in spite of ourselves. I gestured her to begin.

"Dad, I'm sorry I ran off. If I hadn't done it, none of this would have…"

I covered her mouth with my hand. I smiled at the startled look on her face.

"Kara, I've been a terrible father to you." I said, keeping my hand on her mouth. "I've done nothing but argue and force you to do what I wanted you to do without ever asking what you wanted. I saw you with your arrows and… that will amazing. I didn't even know you knew how to do that. And the way you flew… I couldn't, I mean I just…"

Kara moved my hand from her mouth. "I learned from the best." she said with a smile.

My face flushed with pride. "You didn't learn archery from me." I admitted.

"Nope." she shook her head. "That I learned from Gobber. And I just improved on what I already knew."

"Did you invent those arrows? The ones with the acid and the ones you set on fire?" I asked her.

She looked slightly embarrassed as she nodded.

"You're _incredible_!" I said softly, tucking a strand of shorter, flyaway hair behind her ear.

I suspected that she blushed but it was too dark to tell for sure.

* * *

Berk went back to normal soon after that exciting day and night. It was as though it had never happened at all. I didn't mind the lack of attention but I rather enjoyed the look on Madguts' face when I saw Ruffnut give him a play-by-play of what had happened. I could tell he was _very_ disappointed about missing it.

When we returned home, I offered to let Kara into the Dragon Academy. She shook her head and told me she wanted to work on her archery and developing new kinds of arrows. For a few weeks, that's what she did. But I kept noticing a kind of restlessness in her, the way she always looked up at the sky, as though she wanted to be free. Eventually, I worked it out. After a long discussion with Astrid, we knew what we had to do.

"Kara…" I said one day as she whittled at the tip of an arrow, staring out the window.

She looked at me, eyes wide.

I sighed. "Kara… I want you to go."

She looked horrified.

"I'm not banishing you!" I backtracked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Astrid suppress a snicker. "I just think you need to be free to… explore. Go new places. Learn new things."

Kara brightened up. "You mean I can leave Berk?"

Astrid and I nodded. Toothless sat up, looking excited.

"We'll need to get you your own dragon but…" Astrid began to say but she stopped.

Toothless, upon hearing these words, immediately ran to Kara and nestled his head in her arms. She stroked his head.

"Toothless?" I asked, walking slowly over to my dragon.

He looked at me, his great green eyes wide and suddenly I knew what he was trying to say.

"You want to go with her."

It was as though the bottom dropped out of my stomach. I had _never _been separated from Toothless, not in the 26 years I had ridden him. At the same time, I felt proud of him. He wanted to protect my daughter. And I couldn't imagine a better protector than Toothless.

Astrid placed a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay." she said.

I nodded. This wasn't going to be forever.

"Dad, if you don't want to me to take him…" Kara began to say but I put up my hand to silence her.

"I want you to take him." I said. "Teggie too. You need someone to light your arrows faster. Plus… he's kind of a built in flame thrower. You need the extra firepower."

Teggie, who had been snoozing near the fire, looked up excitedly.

"Go as long as you want but… please come back." Astrid said in a voice barely above a whisper.

I sat down next to Toothless, stroking his head. "Take good care of him." I told her. "And take good care of her." I told him.

Toothless and Kara turned their green eyes to me and in an instant, I could tell they understood.


	14. Epilogue: Free

**Epilogue: Free**

_September 29th  
_

It was time. After a week of planning and training and getting together Odin-knows-what to make sure I was prepared to live on my own, I knew it was time for me to go. My parents knew too but they seemed determined to put off my flight as long as possible.

I still didn't like flying but now I could see why they loved it as much as they did. Toothless and I bonded even more, until it was like we were of one mind when we flew.

I would still see Madguts and Camicazi out and about sometimes, hand in hand. To their surprise, I smiled at them. To my surprise, they smiled back. It was as though Madguts and I had never been together at all. I preferred it that way.

I stood on the edge of a cliff on the day, breathing in the clean air. There was something majestic about it all. Something symbolic about flying away, like baby dragons flying from their mothers to have new adventures.

My parents came up, my dad looking reluctant and my mom looking determined. Toothless' harness was now strapped with the things I needed for my journey. Teggie was riding him, looking very excited, his tail wagging back and forth.

My mother was the first to say goodbye. "Kara… come back soon, okay?" she said, hugging me tightly.

"I will mom. I love you." I replied, giving her an extra squeeze.

My dad came forward. He took my hand in his. "I'm so proud of you, Kara." he said. "And I'm not worried at all. I pity the idiot who tries to cross you while Toothless is there. And even when he isn't."

From my dad, that was high praise. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face into my shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you." I said, holding him tightly. "I'll send you a Terrible Terror with a message or two."

He chuckled, letting me go. He stared into my eyes, still holding my hand.

"I love you, Kara. Don't ever forget that." he said, gripping my hand as though he didn't want to let it go.

Toothless came forward and sat down, ready to be mounted. He and Teggie stared at me expectantly.

"I love you too." I smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

He let go of my hand with surprising ease and as I mounted Toothless, I watched him walk back and put his arm around my mom. I looked back at them for a second before Toothless took off, feeling both great excitement and great sadness.

And then we were off. As the wind rushed through my hair and the world opened up to me, I felt incredible. Berk became a speck in the distance and as it disappeared, I looked forward. Teggie grinned at me from his position on my lap and I grinned back.

For the first time in my life, I was _free._

**THE END**

_For the first time in a long time, I have actually finished a project I was working on! Tell me what you thought! Now is the time to post reviews! And stay tuned for some one-shots in preparation for Pirate's Cove. Thanks for reading!  
_


	15. Bonus Chapter: The Dragon in the Dark

_BONUS CHAPTER!_

_That's right; I actually did update this, my most popular story to date. I was actually given the idea by Dipper, a guest reviewer. Thanks Dipper! I did promise one-shots and I thought about creating a new series but decided to just make them into bonus chapters because I didn't want to confuse anyone. That and I'm not getting as many views on __Pirate's Cove__ as I want and saying a series is connected to my OTHER series seemed like a sure fire way to not get reviewed. And that's what it's about… right?_

_I'll let you know when these bonus chapters take place and you can read them as cute little in-canon additions to the story. There will probably be some Hiccstrid later on but then again, I may decide to make all the fluffy Hiccstrid one-shots part of my other series that I recently began (I recommend you read and review that when you finish reading and reviewing this chapter)._

_Your reviews mean the world to me and without them, I'm not sure I could possibly have gotten this far! Thank you to everyone who reviewed something of mine! Don't stop! And enjoy!_

_~KateMarie999_

**Bonus Chapter: The Dragon in the Dark**

_**Time Period: Between Chapter 12 and the Epilogue**_

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was intensely studying a small section of the new harness he was making for Toothless. He had to thread this section just right… one more stitch…

"Dad?"

Hiccup jumped, startled, and spun around. Kara stood there, looking slightly sheepish as she realized just how much she had surprised him.

"Sorry." she said, turning away.

"Don't be silly." said Hiccup, smiling. "I always have time for you."

Kara didn't smile but her face brightened. Hiccup pulled up another chair so she could sit down to face him.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked when she was settled in her chair.

"Well…" Kara avoided his gaze.

Hiccup chuckled. "Ahh I see. Don't worry, your mother doesn't need to know about this." he winked at her, causing her to smile.

"I couldn't sleep." Kara shrugged. "I tried but my thoughts are going faster than a Night Fury."

"I know the feeling." Hiccup nodded. "Have you tried counting sheep?"

Kara narrowed her eyes at him but continued to smile. "Very funny."

"So is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked, turning back to the one last stitch in the saddle that he had completely ruined.

"Actually… yes." Kara stared down at her clasped hands. "But it's kind of awkward."

"I can definitely handle awkward, trust me." Hiccup said sincerely.

"Well okay." Kara took a deep breath. "How do boys think?"

Hiccup reacted to this unexpected question by once again ruining the stitch he was trying to put in the saddle.

"How do boys think?" he repeated, slightly gobsmacked.

"I asked first."

"So you did…" Hiccup sighed, turning to face her. "Well… boys are… you know… boys are… they're like dragons."

"Oh really?" Kara crossed her arms.

Hiccup was forcibly reminded of Astrid's pose when she wanted to get information out of him. He marveled at the fact that he had managed to not notice that Kara could pull off the exact same look and be every bit as intimidating.

"Yes… really." Hiccup replied, trying to sound like the designated authority figure.

"How are they like dragons?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow at him now.

_Damn_ did she look like Astrid. Despite her strong resemblance to him, Hiccup was starting to have a hard time differentiating between the two. If Astrid were to walk in on that conversation and give him the same look, he'd probably find himself on his knees confessing every wrongdoing he'd ever done since birth. This thought alone made him momentarily glad he didn't have any more children.

"Well, Kara, that is an excellent question, one that I… am going to need a few minutes to think about. You know… to give you the right answer."

"Sure you do." said Kara, not moving from her position, her eyes still fixed on her father.

"Okay. I've got it." he said, hoping that he actually did know what he was talking about. "When you first meet dragons, they tend to lash out at you, don't they?"

"Not really."

"Yes well… they did. Once. Before we made peace with them."

"This analogy is already getting confusing."

Hiccup sighed. "Okay, let's take this in a different direction. When you're with a dragon in a dark cave, your dragon has to provide light for you, doesn't it?"

"I guess…"

"So they shoot a fireball into the air or something to that effect."

"Okay…"

"Well boys are like that. When they're in the dark about something, they just spew out whatever it is they can to try to shed some light on the situation." Hiccup bit his lip. "Or… something like that."

Kara looked rather flummoxed at this. "And this applies to me… how?"

"Well sometimes it's dangerous to light something on fire. If it's explosive or could cave in." Hiccup shrugged. "Girls are like that."

Kara looked even more confused. "Girls are like what?"

"Like the cave. Boys don't know how girls will react so they just do what they can to shed some light on the situation. And sometimes that light can be dangerous. Like… if the girl reacts explosively." Hiccup awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"So in dealing with the feelings of girls, like maybe in a relationship, boys try to figure out how to be able to see in the dark without causing a cave-in or something like that? Because they don't know how a girl is going to react?" Kara asked, looking a bit more sure of herself.

"That's exactly what I meant." Hiccup agreed, smiling at her comprehension.

Kara thought about this for a second, her brow furrowed slightly. "You have no idea how to answer my question, do you?"

Hiccup shook his head, smiling sheepishly. "No, not a clue. Next time, ask your mother."

Kara laughed. "Well thanks anyway."

Hiccup stared into his daughter's eyes, enjoying this moment of closeness. She was still smiling at him and, though he couldn't be sure, he thought she might be enjoying it too. He gently placed a hand on her knee.

"You know, Kara, you're growing into someone _amazing_." he said in a lower voice so that only she could hear him. "And any guy who doesn't see that has no idea what he's missing."

Kara looked down at her knees, grinning even wider. "You mean that?"

"Absolutely. And I'm proud of you." Hiccup leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Kara. Don't ever forget that."

Kara looked up and two identical pairs of bright green eyes locked again. And though she didn't say it, Hiccup knew in that moment that she loved him too.


	16. Bonus Chapter: Uncertainty

**Bonus Chapter: Uncertainty**

_**Time Period: Just after Kara's birth**_

I had to stay with the doctor for a few weeks following the climactic and rather dramatic birth of my daughter. Every time the midwife took away my little bundle, I felt like a piece of me was missing and I forced myself to stay calm until she was back in my arms. She weighed three pounds at birth but aside from that, she seemed to be growing at a healthy rate.

Hiccup came in every single day and spent as many nights there as possible. At first, the midwife kicked him out and wouldn't let him sleep there but he started sneaking in so often, she decided it wasn't worth fighting. I liked having him there. Every time he held Kara, I could see a look in his eyes that had never been there before she was born. Father and daughter would stare at each other for hours at a time and I just knew she would be a daddy's girl.

The day the midwife finally let us leave was the day Kara reached six pounds. We took her back to our house and were completely surprised to see a barrage of gifts at the doorstep. It looked as though Kara had already been welcomed by the whole village. When I saw the gifts, I felt tears welling up in my eyes but forced myself not to shed them. I had become embarrassingly emotional ever since Kara was born and I didn't like it one bit.

Hiccup carried the small crib up into our room while I carried our precious bundle right behind him. He placed it down near our bed and we stared at it for a while. Hiccup put his arm around my shoulders and I felt my little girl fall asleep in my arms.

"I don't know about you," Hiccup said at last, breaking the silence. "but I'm pretty terrified right now."

I looked at him, almost expecting to see him smile but he looked quite serious, still staring into the crib.

"You don't usually admit it." I said, nudging him slightly.

"I know." he replied. "But… Astrid, what if we're not ready?"

I looked at Kara's sleeping form. "Bit late for that, isn't it?"

Hiccup took a few steps back and sat on our bed, placing his head in his cupped hands.

"I don't know. Now that she's here… it's so much more _real_." he said, looking rather helpless. "I'm a dad. Me! I… I can't even… I mean I know it's been a few weeks but I have no idea what to do."

"Hold her." I said, holding her out now.

"Astrid…"

"Just hold her." I insisted.

He held up his hands to accept her. He stared into her placid face and for a while, he was silent.

"I just don't want to mess this up." he whispered to me, not taking his eyes off of our daughter.

She shifted a bit but remained asleep. I sat down beside him placing my head on his shoulder and joining him in staring at our daughter's tiny face.

"You are _not_ going to mess this up." I said softly. "I know it."

"How?" he asked, not moving.

I looked at my husband, the man who had fearlessly fought off the Red Death, battled with the Berserkers and Outcasts more times than I could count, and managed to save the whole village from a bizarre outbreak of hives the previous year. But as I looked at his face, his eyes staring at the tiny little person in his arms, I saw vulnerability. I saw uncertainty. But above all, I saw love pouring out of those green eyes, almost more than he'd had the day of our wedding.

"Because you're Hiccup." I said, nudging him in the ribs. "You're always up for a challenge."

He smiled at last, his face brightening. "Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be harder than everything I've ever done?"

"Probably because it will be." I kissed him on the cheek. "But you won't be facing this alone."

"You're right." He said, now looking at me. "Thank you, Astrid."

We stayed silent for a while but we knew the silence wouldn't last. We could hear our dragons approaching. Hiccup held onto Kara more tightly, protecting her from the gigantic beasts. As much as he loved Toothless, I could tell he was uneasy about introducing a gigantic dragon to a newborn.

Toothless nudged the door open with his head and quietly walked over to his owner, looking concerned. Stormfly is always able to read my emotions and Toothless' loyalty to Hiccup allowed him to have that particular gift as well. When he was in front of Hiccup, he eyed the bundle. He cocked his head slightly. Hiccup looked very nervous for a moment but when he caught his dragon's eyes, he relaxed. He held Kara up so that his dragon could see her.

"Toothless, meet Kara." He said, placing one hand on his dragon's chin and scratching it affectionately.

Toothless made a warbling noise and suddenly placed his front legs on Hiccup's knees to get a better look at Kara. There was a pause in which I feared the worst but Toothless licked her face affectionately, accepting her into our family. She awoke with a start and started moving her hands. She reached out to Toothless, meeting his gaze, and he placed his nose onto her outstretched hand.

"Looks like she already takes after you." I said, smiling at the sight of our daughter's tiny hand rested on Toothless' giant nose.

Hiccup seemed to be at a loss for words. I decided to leave them alone. I needed to go through the gifts anyway before nightfall. As I started walking down the stairs, I heard Kara make a noise that sounded like it might turn into a cry.

"Shhh." said Hiccup, so quietly I could barely hear him. "It's okay. Daddy's here."

Yes, Kara would _definitely_ be a daddy's girl.


	17. Bonus Chapter: Flying Lessons

_The lovely __**Miss Pookamonga**__ said that my writing has blossomed a lot over a month. I first posted this story two months ago and I already feel like I've improved wonderfully. So today I decided, for fun, to go back and rewrite the very first thing I ever wrote for this site. Feel free to compare the two but I guarantee that this will be better! I may rewrite this whole story one day but not today._

_Enjoy and please review!_

_~KateMarie999_

**BONUS CHAPTER: Flying Lessons**

"No."

"Kara, come on. You know your mother will have both our heads if I don't get you flying today."

"No."

"I know you're scared but I'll be right behind you. I promise."

"No."

"Kara… please? Tell you what, how about just one flight around Berk?"

"No!"

"Okay how about twenty feet up and then back down. You'll be in the air for two seconds."

"No!"

I've said that Vikings have stubbornness issues for years but as I stared into my 9-year-old daughter's eyes, I knew I was seeing the epitome of 300 years of stubbornness shining through them. Her brow was furrowed and her arms crossed. I was reminded of her mother as I stared at her rigid form, guarded against the very thing I had been trying to train her to do since she was four. I had tried everything, including an embarrassing amount of groveling, but still her little feet remained on the ground.

I took a deep breath and tried to soften my gaze. She tended to relax a bit when I was patient with her. I gently reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder. She didn't make a move to brush it away but she still stared at it suspiciously. I crouched down to her level, which was rather difficult due to my prosthesis.

"Kara… do you trust me?"

This question surprised her slightly. She did what she always did when she was nervous; she looked down at her shoes.

"Look at me." I placed two fingers on her chin and slowly moved her head up so that our identical green eyes met. "You know I would _never _let you fall." I smiled and notice her brighten slightly at this expression of friendliness.

"I'm scared." she said so quietly I almost couldn't hear her.

"Of course you are." I said, placing my other hand on her shoulder. "Anyone would be their first time riding. But I know you're brave and you're strong."

A sheepish smile spread over Kara's features as she slowly moved her head down so she could get a good look at her shoes again. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are." I said as I gently moved her head up again. "You're a Haddock. It's in your blood."

Kara and I stared at each other once more. There was no denying the abject terror in her eyes but as she looked at me, I could see her defenses slowly coming down. Her shoulders felt a lot less tense under my hands and her posture became less rigid. She finally uncrossed her arms as she made a decision.

"Okay. But just once." My heart leaped for joy. "Will you… will you be behind me?"

"Of course I will." I said, gazing at her quite seriously. "I wouldn't miss this moment for the world."

Kara began to look a lot unsure of her decision as I stood up and adjusted the saddle on Toothless so that she would be more secure. I didn't want to take any chances. She was my only child and I would do anything to make sure she was safe. I turned back to her and noticed that she was trembling slightly. Her face still looked resolute but her body didn't seem to want to obey its example. I reached out and picked her up. I could hear her heartbeat quickening as I placed her on Toothless' back. But before mounting the Night Fury behind her, I walked over and stroked his head.

"It's okay, bud. As soon as Kara learns to fly, it'll be just you and me again." I said in a low voice.

Toothless looked up at me and I felt a rush of gratitude toward him. For months, he sat still while I taught my little girl all about how to control his tail and how to mount and dismount properly. The poor dragon hadn't complained once and as I stared into his eyes, I could tell he missed me and was longing for the days where it was just the two of us once more.

"Don't tell him to fly!" Kara cried, clutching to his back and looking petrified.

I shook my head. "I won't tell him to fly. I told you I'll be right behind you."

Kara nodded, loosening her grip on Toothless. The dragon sighed deeply and made a small cooing noise but remained still. I mounted behind Kara and placed my arms around her, making sure that she was secure in the saddle and as safe as she could possibly be.

"All right, bud. Let's go!" I said, patting the top of my dragon's head.

Toothless stretched out his ebony wings and took off. Kara let off a squeal of surprise as the dragon ascended into the sky. As we began to climb higher and higher into the sky, I felt wonderful. I was flying on my dragon with my daughter, teaching her my profession and my passion. However, that feeling lasted only a few seconds.

Kara became rigid once more. She crouched low over Toothless' back and dug her fingernails into his scales. I could feel her shaking growing more violent and hear her nearly hyperventilating as we got higher. Though I couldn't see, I wondered if she had squeezed her eyes shut and a few seconds later, I heard a sound that made me feel like my heart had turned to ice.

She began to _cry_. It wasn't the sniffling she would do when she bumped her head or the wail she occasionally let loose when her feelings were hurt by one of her peers. This was a sound I had never heard before. She was crying in _terror_. I was torturing her with every second we spent in the sky.

I couldn't handle it anymore. I directed my dragon downward, trying to make the landing as easy as possible for her. The moment Toothless' feet touched the ground, she immediately slid off the saddle (in very bad form but I couldn't bring myself to correct her) and turned around to look at me.

I felt as though my ice-cold heart _shattered _with the look she was giving me. Her whole body was still shaking. Her eyes were still spilling tears over her freckled face. I felt as though I had betrayed her somehow. Her breathing was labored and it seemed to take a lot of effort for her to find her voice once more.

"I'm _never_ doing that again!" she shrieked, taking off toward home as fast as her little feet would carry her.

I watched her run away, suddenly terrified of her own father, and felt more guilty than I had ever felt in my entire life. Wherehad I gone wrong? Were Astrid and I bad parents? Did we not train her enough? I felt all the questions swirl around in my head and after a few minutes, I realized I must have looked pretty silly sitting there on Toothless and staring into space.

I slowly dismounted and walked over to my dragon's head. He made a sad sort of whining noise. I stroked his head and tried to smile reassuringly.

"Looks like it's just you and me, bud." I said, trying to sound cheerful.

Toothless stared at me and, in an instant, I could tell he had penetrated my emotional defenses. I slowly allowed my face to reveal my true feelings on the subject. He always could tell how I was feeling. I guess soul-crushing disappointment is hard to hide.

_So was this better or worse than the actual first chapter of this story? Leave a review to let me know!_


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